Darling, Don't Fear the Reaper, For Despair is Just a Disease
by LizzyLovesPink
Summary: After a viral hemorrhage fever wipes out almost all of humanity, the remaining survivors gather themselves up and start trying to rebuild society. As they grow stronger under their chosen leader, they soon learn they were all chosen to lead one final stand against good and evil-a stand not all of them will survive. AU of Stephen King's The Stand; MakotoxSayaka; -FINISHED!-
1. Commencement

**Author's Note: Welcome to yet another new project of mine that I've been working on for the past few weeks! These two chapters are mainly just to see if there's interest in this idea or not; a Danganronpa retelling of Stephen King's novel The Stand! **

**This will also be on AO3, so head over there if you'd prefer to give it some love there too! A little birdie told me there might even be fanart... **

**Also, this fanfic _will _contain violence, major character death, rape/non-con, disabled main characters, explicit language, outdated language(as in terms to refer to disabled people), Japanese culture, aged-up/aged-down characters, and mid-1990's references. Only the first two chapters are super long like this; the rest are quite short. **

**Ships will be MakotoxSayaka(main one), one-sided HifumixSayaka, LeonxKaede, platonic Leon and Mukuro, platonic Chihiro and Gonta, ChihiroxHiyoko for one scene only, NagitoxMondo for one scene only, Junko and Hajime in...a 'platonic' way I suppose, annnnd two other ships I cannot reveal here as they are spoilers. **

**But if you know the source material, I think you'll be in for quite a treat~ No spoilers if you know it~ **

**#####**

_**And So it Begins...**_

_**Another Tale of Good VS Evil...**_

_**Hope VS Despair...**_

* * *

"Young lady, you really need to leave," Jin anxiously waved his hands at a teen girl with strawberry-blonde hair, contently resting her back against a lamp post and eating sugar stars. "You really do,"

"Hm? But I live here!" She gasped in cute but feigned offense. "My house is over there," She pointed off in a random direction to the faded townhouses just beyond the gate.

"Then hurry home. Your parents must be worried,"

"Okay, okay, fine," The girl waved her hand in annoyance and walked off, tossing her half-empty bag right onto the street. She wasn't even that menacing of a sight; her hair braided and tied with a clip that had Kuma-chan the black bear mascot on it. She wore a giant leather jacket over a pale yellow slip dress and high-heeled red boots. One of those delinquent girls he had heard a bit about, perhaps. It was nearing midnight anyway, what was she doing out?

Almost as soon as the girl turned the corner, Jin lost his composure and took off running for his own house, startling his wife as he threw open the door.

"Get dressed, get packed, get everything ready now. We have to leave," He annunciated, watching his ghostly slip of a wife stare back at him in concern.

"Why? What's happened? What can you tell me?" She asked instead, slowly inching over to their room. Jin sighed and yanked her arm hard, running with her to their bedroom.

"Just hurry, please! We have to go as soon as possible. Our daughter is still up north and we need to get her too," Jin quickly looked out the window as his wife, Megumi, started throwing clothes into a large green suitcase, her wide red eyes silently demanding an explanation. "Everything was normal, Megumi. Then I looked over at the screen and the other two guards..they were _dead_, Megumi. Dead as doornails. Everyone in the building is dead,"

Megumi paled and froze for just a second before she continued to pack. She threw a violet sweater on over her tank top, pulling it down so it'd cover her jeans better.

"Come on, come on," He slipped on a black jacket of his own that went with his hair; despite being in his forties he still looked and dressed quite young.

Silver-haired Megumi nodded again and grabbed the suitcase, rushing right into her husband's car and throwing the suitcase in the back. Jin buckled up and sped out of the driveway, crinkling the candy bag as he ran over it in his rush.

"Everything will be fine...they managed to contain it, I'm sure of it," Jin started to relax a bit, sighing. "I'm sure they had lots of precautions set up for this very scenario,"

Megumi nodded, leaning against the window of the passenger seat and watching the lights go by. The roads were strangely empty that time of night. "We'll be perfectly fine,"

In the early hours of the morning, they had approached Tokyo and Megumi had been asleep for the better part of two hours, speaking of a headache and a slight fever.

**####**

**Part 1; Commencement; June 16th-June 27th, 1994 **

**Yokohama; June 16th, 1994**

* * *

The early morning was usually met with scorn in most families, but the Naegis had always been a little unusual in the way they approached things, so they greeted each and every morning extremely early. Makoto, their oldest son at eighteen, was a prime example of that as he dug through the extra fridge kept in the garage, trying to find some more eggs.

"You making some fried eggs and rice again?" His younger sister Komaru teased as she wandered into the garage. "Talk about a hearty breakfast!"

"Actually, I was thinking of making bacon and eggs," Makoto laughed a bit, finally finding the light green carton and pulling it out. "Why don't you help me? With more hands, it'll get done faster!"

"Sure!" Komaru beamed and followed her brother into the kitchen, helping him get out various bowls and spoons. They looked identical in their ragged bleached jeans and dark checkered shirts; except hers was dark red and his was black.

"Mom and Dad are still asleep, but I bet they'll wake up once they smell this!" Komaru continued to smile, cracking several eggs into the bowl. Makoto turned the stove on and greased up the frying pan with a stick of butter, carefully laying the bacon strips out onto it. They sizzled and hissed loudly upon making contact, starting to brown. Makoto hurriedly got out a spatula and watched them while Komaru beat at the eggs with a whisk.

As Makoto flipped the bacon over on the other side, the loud screech of tires got their attention and in a flash, they pressed themselves against the wall as the back end of a car slammed into their front porch, the Veranda on the top falling off and breaking the car's windshield.

"Oh my gosh!" Komaru cried out, running outside. "Get Mom and Dad, quickly!"

Makoto nodded at her words and made to run for their room, only to stop in his tracks when his parents nearly collided with him.

"What was that noise?" Mrs. Naegi asked worriedly.

"Someone crashed their car into our front porch,"

"Anyone hurt?" She asked as Makoto led them outside.

"I hate to say this, but it's a possibility they might be drunk," Mr. Naegi said.

"Drunk or not, they might need our help!" Makoto threw open the car doors, everyone gasping and balking in horror at the sight.

A silver-haired woman sat slumped over in her seat, wrinkly and sunken from dehydration. Her eyes were rolled back into her head, while dried blood caked her mouth and nose. Her sweater was stained.

The car reeked of blood and vomit, and the smell only grew as the driver fell out onto the pavement, breathing heavily.

"Call an ambulance!" Komaru cried, and Mrs. Naegi ran back inside the house to do so. Komaru was at the man's side in an instant, trying to help him up.

"M...My daughter...she's still up north...I just hope that...she's alright..." The man took a shuddering breath.

Makoto stared at the man in concern.

"My wife...she got sick first. It was just a little fever..she's always been sick, been born sick...and then.." He sighed. "Look out for...the blonde-haired girl with the bear in her hair. She was following us..."

"What do you think he's sick with?" Makoto asked his father as Komaru checked for a temperature.

"Maybe food poisoning? That stuff can usually cause a nasty fever depending on what you ate. Even worse ones cause you to vomit your internal organs," Mr. Naegi answered, prompting Komaru to finally turn her head as far away from the sickly man as possible and throw up herself.

Mrs. Naegi ran back outside. "The ambulance is on the way," She relayed.

"My wife is still fine though, right? Oh, Megumi-chan...lovely little Megumi-chan...she is a splitting image of our darling daughter but for the hair and eyes..." The man coughed, a few specks of blood coming out.

"Um...Mister...your...your wife is dead..." Makoto answered, trying to remove the image of the corpse from his mind already.

"N-No...Megumi-chan...oh, our daughter will surely scold me for this."

He was loaded into the ambulance the moment it arrived, Mr. Naegi voting to go with him while Mrs. Naegi stayed behind and helped finish cooking breakfast. The bacon had burnt, so they ended up having fried eggs and rice instead.

Makoto scooped the egg up in his chopsticks no less than four times before he finally decided he had no appetite that morning.

**####**

**Nagoya; June 16th, 1994**

* * *

The lake around Sayaka Maizono's house was a beautiful one in the mornings, when the right sunrise painted it a cheerful array of yellow and pink. She sat on her porch that particular morning and sipped tea daintily, just wanting to enjoy the moment and relax before it was time for her to head to school. As she sat there, she bore witness to her current boyfriend of the hour, a shy and awkward young man who always wore black and hid his face underneath a cap named Shuichi.

"Morning," He greeted her, not coming up to the porch.

"Morning yourself," She walked over to him and gave him a reassuring smile, finishing up her tea and then taking his hand. "I have to go to school soon,"

"I know...I just wanted to take you out...for...um...ice-cream," Shuichi suggested lamely. "Unless you dislike eating sugar in the mornings,"

"Ice-cream sounds lovely!" She squeezed his hand and they walked along the length of the lake together. It was a lovely sight, she mused; her with her perfect idol body and dark blue hair with a red bow in the back, recently cropped so it framed her face nicely. The bow matched the red one on her sailor uniform; a crisp white blouse with blue trim and matching ankle-long skirt, white stockings, petticoat, grey shorts, and black shoes underneath. Him with his dark hair and eyes and clothes, looking younger than his true age.

They arrived at the parlor and Sayaka got a simple strawberry cone for herself while Shuichi got a banana-split. They chose to eat outside, the slightly-warm weather being perfect.

"I'm pregnant," Sayaka announced the moment he started eating, making him sputter and stare at her in alarm.

"W-What...?"

"I'm pregnant,"

"And...?"

"And, I'm positive it's yours. I know we used a condom, but it must've broke," Sayaka finished, licking her ice-cream. Shuichi remained sitting there, stunned into silence. "So, I have a few options in mind-"

Shuichi was already at his feet, throwing the half of the sundae that remained in the trash before heading back to the house. Sayaka jumped up and ran after him, cone still in hand, as she frowned at him.

"Are you suggesting we get married?" He asked as she finally caught up, licking at the remainder of her cone.

"No. If I ever got married, I'd want it to be with someone I love, and not just because I have to," She stared ahead at nothing. "Something romantic like that, like a childhood friend or something."

Shuichi just sighed. "I came all of this way from Sapporo," He leaned forward."Can't I at least spend my last few days here with you?"

Sayaka continued to stare at him.

"I can't ride my bike all the way back!" Shuichi suddenly gasped in offense.

"Ride it, like you enjoy riding me," She managed to dodge when he threw his hat at her, walking on ahead he hurried to retrieve it. She noticed the faint blush on his cheeks. Pervert. Figured he'd get off on being insulted like that.

"I have to go to school," She commented. She was suddenly thankful it was the last week, but less thankful that that meant she'd have to potentially see more of Shuichi. He unnerved her in a way she didn't really understand.

The lake had lost its colour by the time she returned home.

**####**

**Osaka; June 16th, 1994**

* * *

The night had gotten darker later than usual, and he felt as though it'd be chilly if he wasn't already bundled up quite well in a baggy green turtleneck and checkered yellow-green ankle-length pleated skirt. A small brown satchel was by his side which he gripped tightly; it having his livelihood in it.

Chihiro took a deep breath and suddenly stopped for a few seconds, waiting for his foggy brain to catch up with the thoughts of his legs before he continued walking again. Three sodas and two beers was a bad idea at the time and it was still a bad idea now. But he was thirsty and bored and off of work. What else was he expected to do?

"Hey young lady, where are you off to this late?" A tall guy in a white sweatshirt suddenly stepped in front of Chihiro, making him pause and look up. "You're a cute thing. Why don't you tell me? I'll walk you home safe and sound,"

He talked slow enough for Chihiro to keep track, and even though he couldn't understand the tone of the voice, he perfectly understood the intent as he looked away. He shook his head.

"Oh? Saying no to me? But if you walk home alone, you'll regret it," He roughly grabbed Chihiro's wrist, making his eyes widen in pain as he was pulled closer. "Say something!" He shook Chihiro roughly.

"She won't talk, she won't say anything to you. Haven't you heard? That's Fujisaki-san, she's a mute," A boy not much taller than Chihiro himself wandered out of the dark, a few other boys by his side. They were all dressed the same.

"She's dumb? Fuck her then," The boy threw Chihiro onto the ground hard, making him wince as he felt the impact. His skirt rode up around his knees. "What'cha got in that bag, girl?"

Chihiro tightened his grip on the bag protectively, already trying to crawl down the street away from them. Their leader walked over and stepped harshly on his skirt, making him tumble. There was a ripping sound.

"Are you lying about her being dumb?" Another boy questioned, his hands on his hips as he looked Chihiro over.

"Nope! For once I'm not! She's not just a mute, but deaf too. I don't think she understands a single word we're saying," He leaned down in front of Chihiro. "I'm Kokichi. I hope you'll remember me!" And with a smirk, he cocked his fist and punched Chihiro square in the face.

The others happily joined in, punching and kicking at him in anyplace they could find. One of them managed to wrestle the bag out of his grip and made off with it, running away.

"I wish she wasn't dumb, I want her to cry out! I want her to scream! I love it when girls scream!" One of the boys sighed before he delivered a final kick to Chihiro's stomach. "I think she's learned. Let's go,"

"I hope you won't forget about me," Kokichi placed a finger to his lips, then pressed that same finger to Chihiro's own before him and the rest of the group ran off. Chihiro simply closed his eyes and slowly curled himself up into a ball, feeling his stomach roil and blood dripping from his nose steadily into a puddle on the ground.

He had to get up, he somehow knew that, and very slowly pulled himself off the ground and begun to limp away, holding onto one of his arms. His nose was likely broken, that he could tell almost instantly, but he wasn't sure about the rest of his body. He glanced up and saw the oncoming white lights of a car and felt his legs suddenly give way, forcing him to collapse again.

_I have to get out of the road,_

He rolled himself onto the grass and saw the lights coming closer and closer before the car itself came into view, stopping.

Chihiro wondered if the car was a good thing or a bad thing. He tried to pull himself up into a sitting position before he just simply passed out.

* * *

When Chihiro finally woke up, his first thought was how bright the room he was in currently was. It was night before...how long had he been out? He very slowly pulled himself up in bed, wincing at how sore and broken his body still felt. He was laying on a steel bed with a wool blanket in a tiny barred cell with a closed door and tiny toilet at the foot of the bed.

Why was he in prison?! What did he do?! He was just trying to run away from those would-be thugs who stole his bag and attacked him. Who went to the scene of a crime and arrested the injured person trying to escape?

Chihiro managed to sit up further, pushing the blanket away as a wave of nausea washed over him and he desperately clutched at his stomach. He ran his hand over his face and found several bandages covering his cheeks and nose, with another on his first finger on the right hand. The room spun momentarily before the nausea passed and Chihiro hanged his head gratefully.

The thing he was most grateful for, however, was the fact that whoever had arrested him hadn't bothered with changing his clothes. He still wore that same turtleneck; bloodied a bit now, the same skirt; ripped unevenly near the bottom, white leg warmers, and black saddle shoes. He quickly touched his head and felt his normally fluffy yellowish-brown hair was matted with dirt and his green headband was missing.

Thank goodness they hadn't changed him though. He wasn't in the mood for any questions like that today.

After the nausea had passed and Chihiro was more aware of both himself and his surroundings, he very slowly stood up and limped his way over to the tiny metal toilet. As he stood in front of it, he slowly glanced around him both ways to make sure nobody was watching, then unzipped the skirt and yanked it down to his ankles and slipped out his member, peeing almost instantly.

It was loud as it hit the empty metal, and there'd had been so much in him that he soon felt like he had been standing there for hours, just peeing.

He was in such bad shape that he was honestly surprised his pee had no blood in it; it was a light yellow. He smiled in relief and flushed the toilet, zipping his skirt back up and getting himself presentable again.

Afterwards, Chihiro walked over to the barred door and leaned up against it on his tip-toes, trying to look around and see if anyone was in the building. He'd have to get this cleared up, he just had to! There was no way he was supposed to be in prison, he had done nothing wrong!

A man with large muscles walked out of a brightly-lit office room just a few minutes later, wearing a dark uniform with a specialized insignia on the chest alongside his badge. Chihiro's eyes widened a bit when he recognized the badge; this man clearly was of a higher authority here. He had shaggy black hair stylized with hair gel and an unfriendly face, as if he was always on the lookout for a fight. He stared at Chihiro for a minute or two before sighing.

"You ain't from 'round here, are ya, girlie? Be thankful you were found when you were by the road last night. Some unlucky shmuck might've found ya first and had his way with ya before dumping ya body in the ditch," He sighed again. "Just the way things work, as I'm sure ya know. Ya got a name there, girlie?"

His accent was typical in this part of the country, but Chihiro still took a moment to process what he had said before he pointed to his mouth and made a slashing motion, shaking his head.

"You can't talk? Well, you're very lucky you were found then," The man grumbled.

Chihiro mimed writing with a pencil in the air, blushing.

"Want something to write with? I expected someone like you to be better prepared. I always assumed mute people carried paper around with them at all times,"

He motioned to the invisible satchel, pretending to run off with it and then miming being attacked. He ran his hand along his clothes to indicate he had no more pockets and stared up at the man carefully.

"Robbed, huh? Geezh, you did have a rough night last night, huh, girlie?" He left and returned with a large notebook in blue one normally used for school and a sharp pencil. When Chihiro opened it, he stared at the name written there before flipping the page.

"Yes, my name is Oowada Daiya. Don't pay much attention to that though," He waved a hand dismissively. "Tell me yours,"

_Fujisaki Chihiro._

He happily held out his hand to be polite, sticking it through the bars easily, but Daiya shook his head at him and Chihiro awkwardly let it flop back to his side.

"Are you deaf too, girlie?"

Chihiro nodded and kept his focus trained on the notebook, not knowing Daiya had whistled lowly. He had met a few deaf people in his life, but none had been as quick-minded as she was. It was a feat to teach them to read and write, he had always assumed, but Chihiro didn't even seem to notice her disability.

"So you said you got robbed. Where? What were you doing?" He asked.

Chihiro write rapidly, his pencil flying across the paper.

J_ust hanging out after work at a karaoke bar. I didn't sing-could never sing, but I wanted to get something to drink. Some beer and soda. When I was walking home, I got attacked by a group of people. I think it was Aichi Ann Karaoke just north of here._

Daiya squinted a bit at the tiny and frail girl before him. "You seem awfully young to be drinking,"

_I'm twenty-two! I just look young,_ Chihiro pouted._ I can't help that..._

"Alright, alright, I was mainly teasing ya girlie. Are you from around here? I reckon not. Why are you here in Osaka?" He placed his hands on his hips.

Chihiro stared down at the paper again, pouting further because he had run out of space. In one quick motion, he tore the paper off and crumbled it up, looking around uncertainly.

"Throw that in your can. I'm a nice guy normally, especially to people like you, but I won't be very happy if you litter in here. My girlfriend cleans up here, ya know," He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Chihiro took an uneasy step back and slowly let go of the paper, watching as it dropped into the toilet. With a slow sigh, he flushed it and turned back around to face Daiya.

_I do freelance work. You know how computers are super big now? A lot of people don't know to properly install their systems and...things. So it's my job to help them. I mainly just wander around, looking for any positions like that. I also take library jobs and restaurant jobs. Earlier today, or maybe yesterday, I was working for a man named Fukugachi Ayame. I helped him hook up his phone and watched his niece._

He then handed the notebook to Daiya, clasping his hands together.

"Fukugachi Ayame. I'll look into this," He tore that piece off and slipped it into his pocket, handing the notebook back to Chihiro. "You make a lot?"

_Enough to get by. Those who mugged me earlier took my week's pay._

"Did you see Fukugachi-san's dog?"

Chihiro nodded eagerly.

_It's one of those big Russian dogs! It looks means but it's very friendly. I got to feed it a biscuit when I arrived because it ran up to me eagerly. I flinched a bit at the thought of being jumped on, but it just wanted to lick me,_ He smiled more as he thought about how fluffy and soft the dog's white coat was.

Daiya nodded again and walked off, coming back with a set of silver keys. He stuck one of the smaller ones into the lock, motioning to Chihiro to stand back. Once he did so, the door swung open and he quickly hurried out.

"It really did hurt my heart to see a girlie as pretty as you locked up in there. You don't deserve to be," He led Chihiro into his office, which was decorated in biker memorabilia. He stared at it in fascination. "I truly don't mind spendin' the remainder of the day with ya. Not in that way. My job makes me stay awake for hours on end, and I ain't that kind of person. My brother is, we all know how early he likes to wake up, but not me. I can't function without a certain amount of sleep. I mean, look at me now, I'm stuck here at the office at the crack of dawn, eating greasy breakfast food when I should be asleep at home with my girlfriend," He was still talking, but his back was to Chihiro, so when he turned back around, Chihiro just gave him a confused glance. "Never mind. Ya want breakfast?"

Chihiro nodded, pinching two of his fingers together.

"Gotcha. Coffee?"

Another nod.

"Anything in it? Heck, I'll let ya do that yaself, girlie." He handed Chihiro a small plate that had a breakfast sandwich on it and a bag of chips, as well as handed him a mug of coffee. "Hope ya don't mind a more Western-style breakfast,"

Chihiro smiled happily, not really one for labels like that. He took out some sugar and cream and carefully sprinkled in just a little bit, taking a sip.

"Figured ya would like sweeter things. All chicks are like that, ya know?"

He winced a bit at that, continuing to sip. He mimed rubbing his stomach with a smile on his face, making Daiya grin.

"My girlfriend makes it fresh every morning. She'll be thrilled to know she's still got it," He then shook his head. "Anyway, let's get back to the topic at hand. If there's one thing that I dislike, it's chicks like ya getting treated like trash. Part of the reason I became sheriff is to catch guys like that. Can you tell me anything about the guys who attacked you last night?"

Chihiro took another sip of his coffee, thinking about it. He then started to write again.

_Three or four, I think. It was dark, so I couldn't make out very much, but I do remember their leader was fairly short, probably about the same height as me. The rest of his group were all taller. He had distinct purple hair, I do remember that. He punched me hard in the face before they bolted. And another one stole my satchel._

He showed it to Daiya, who nodded.

"Yup, that sounds like Ouma Kokichi and his group alright. They call themselves DICE or something like that. Pretty obnoxious group too, they usually go around pickpocketing people. Fancies himself as some kind of evil leader. If ya ask me, that kid is just crazy and spends far too much time reading comics,"

Chihiro clutched the notebook close to his chest.

"Tell ya what. If you're plannin' on stayin' in this town for a while, you could help me locate these goons of his. They're pretty spineless when they're on their own, one works at a jewelry store for cryin' out loud!" He caught Chihiro's strained smile and cleared his throat. "He just don't seem like the type, is all."

He finished drinking the coffee and moved onto the food, taking big bites and letting some of the juice from the sausage run down his chin. Daiya laughed a bit.

"Hearty eater, ain't ya? That's good. More people should just appreciate the luxury of being able to eat," He suddenly sighed a bit and rubbed at his head with both hands, prompting Chihiro to look at him in concern. "Huh? Oh, nothin'. Just a killer headache. Nothin' to worry about. Likely just some kind of head cold. It's that time of year, after all,"

Chihiro nodded and continued to eat, Daiya keeping an eye on him. He really did enjoy a girl who had a hearty appetite, unlike his girlfriend; Karen, a quiet and unconcerned girl who spent her days busy as the secretary of her school's Student Council. Everytime he served her dinner, she'd take a few bites and leave the table. Chihiro, though, that girl knew how to eat. He felt another stabbing pain in his forehead and subtly groaned again, continuing to rub his temples out of Chihiro's sight. If it truly was an oncoming head-cold, he'd be annoyed. Now really wasn't the time to get sick, and he didn't want go home and accidentally get Karen sick too, as he knew he'd never hear the end of that.

**####**

**Undisclosed Location; June 17th, 1994**

* * *

The man had died in his soup. How ghastly. One moment, he was eating it, and then the next, he had collapsed dead, the soup spilling out over the edges where his head had hit it. Toranosuke found himself wondering what kind of a soup it was. Miso or pork? Something more foreign, like chicken noodle or goulash? What were his final thoughts before he died; if he even had them, if he even realized at the time that he was dying? Toranosuke had been pondering those thoughts for the better half of an hour and still had no good answers. As if they'd even get answers at that point.

"Mr. Ishimaru," One of his associates walked in and he briefly looked up from the monitors he was staring at. "How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Was all Toranosuke said before he returned to the files on his desk; all official reports of the disease. "Not good at all,"

"Do you require my assistance?"

"No."

"You know, I last heard they managed to quarantine it in a small community in Yokohama. Surely our worries are over now. Surely,"

"Yes, surely," Toranosuke nodded beside himself, kicking himself mentally for not bringing his pills. His grandson nagged him over it earlier and in a hurry, he agreed, but now he found himself wishing he hadn't. "How many?"

"We aren't sure of the exact numbers yet, but all we know is that everyone is infected aside from a young man named Naegi Makoto. For the past few hours, he has tested negative, but Kirigiri Jin was negative for a few days at least before he suddenly succumbed,"

Toranosuke nodded again.

Once the other man left, Toranosuke started to read the files more carefully, committing the information presented to memory.

_**Code Green; AKA, Despair Disease. An isolated virus created purely for study to see if creating a viral hemorrhage fever, or VHF, was possible in a laboratory environment. It was, as it mutated and grew quite fast in just a matter of a few weeks. However, a laboratory breech resulted in Code Green being exposed to the facility members of the laboratory, killing them almost instantly.**_

_**The disease is believed to have a 95% or 96% communicability rate as well as mortality rate. It is highly contagious, but easy-to-contain in the right circumstances. It can easily mutate and present different symptoms depending on the host, but the main ones are the same. Host normally experiences a slight fever and/or headache at first, as well as body aches. As the disease travels further in the bloodstream, host may experience violent tendencies or thoughts; it is widely believed that many hosts end up committing suicide on themselves from being delirious rather than letting the actual virus kill them. The fever grows alongside the violent tendencies; however, a few hosts may not experience the violent tendencies but all will experience some sort of personality change. Internal bleeding results within a few days; host will cough up and vomit blood. Nausea, stomach pain, and bloody diarrhea occurs in a few cases, but not all.**_

_**It is possible to survive the disease, it is believed, but no cases have been discovered yet, and even if the host did manage to recover normally, they would just contract the disease again at a later date due to how contagious it is, and they would also have to deal with permanent mental and physiological damage.**_

_**Spread through bodily fluids, many people who contract it originally got it from being a caregiver of another ill person.**_

_**Vaccines cannot be developed due to the nature of the disease and how quickly it takes control of the host and rewrites their personality. Studies would need to be done on every single host's brain. However, medical experts do think that normal antibodies should ward off many symptoms of the disease, as well as staying hydrated.**_

Toranosuke returned to staring at the man who had died in his soup.

**#####**

**Shinjuku; June 17th, 1994**

* * *

Shinjuku was his hometown and the place his obtained his unique zest of love for. Yes, he had spent the last year or so just traveling aimlessly around the other nearby districts, including Tokyo itself, but he had nearly run out of money due to his partying attitude and hurried back home, knowing just the person to help him out. Besides, even he knew he couldn't stay away from Shinjuku forever. It was in his blood. It served as the inspiration for what he had hoped would be his break-out hit, Your Man Just Ain't Good for Ya. So far, even though he had heard it on the radio everywhere from Tokyo to Shibuya, one of his friends told him it was only seventy-eight most popular in the nation at the moment.

He carefully stepped up the steps to his mother's house, trying not to sway noticeably. After a disastrously-expensive party, he was forced to run out on one of his friends and hurried back home, promising he was good for the money.

His mother had opened the door before he had even begun to knock, taking in his baggy sportswear and newly-pierced face. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You weren't due back for at least another week," Lisa Kuwata scolded, staring down at her son.

"Yeah, well, I got homesick and headed back here," He walked inside the house, noticing it still looked the same as it did when he left it. "I would've written but...you should know by now that I'm not that sort of guy,"

"Hm-um," Lisa continued to stare at Leon. "Well, you're home now, nothing for that. You hungry? I ordered a pizza," She had the same flaming hair and deep blue eyes as her son, her hair cut fashionably short. She was wearing her usual black slip dress with a long grey tenchcoat over it, spiky earrings in her ears.

"Pizza sounds great," He feigned the most enthusiastic smile he possibly could; pizza was one of the only things he had been eating for the past year.

Lisa led him into the dining room and made him sit, getting out a grey plastic plate and tossing it in front of him, two slices of mushroom-and-sausage on top. Leon dug in after a few seconds, trying to not look his mother in the face.

"Your aunt and uncle are coming over later," She commented.

"Oh, really? They haven't visited in a while,"

"You haven't been home for a while."

Leon said nothing.

"Kanon-chan might come with them." When Leon ignored her again, she placed her hands on her hips. "I heard your new song on the radio, you know. It's one of the only things they play on certain stations,"

That got his attention, and he looked up in surprise. "Really? They usually only reserve that sort of thing for chart-toppers,"

"Yeah, but you could very well be on your way to being one," She said. "That American-sounding style is very popular right now. Maybe in a few years, you could think about traveling to America and performing there. They might get an even bigger kick out of you,"

Leon nodded along to what his mother was saying.

"Certainly more popular than here. I swear, all of the new music sounds exactly the same. It's all yelling and guitars,"

"I think it's to disguise the fact that some of them aren't very good. But in my opinion, if you can play an instrument really well, who cares how your singing is!" He laughed.

"At least you're actually trying to make a name for yourself," She ran a hand through her hair. "Unlike your father, but we don't need to get into that today," Lisa eventually left the room, leaving Leon to finish eating.

Once she was gone, he allowed himself to get visibly surprised by the image of his mother with the array of spiky earrings. Just next to the kitchen island was a photo of them when Leon was around sixteen or seventeen, and her hair was longer and fluffy, with not a single pierced ear in sight. Even her dress was more conservative; buttoned-up and bright pink with widened shoulders.

He shook his head and made himself continue eating. He shouldn't think too hard about it. Maybe it was Kanon who completely took over his life while he was gone and somehow convinced her aunt to give herself a complete makeover. Knowing how pushy his cousin could be at times, it certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

His two slices were gone as he finished up that thought. Too tired to even think of putting the dish in the sink, he stumbled over to the couch and threw himself down onto it, falling asleep within seconds. He slept for an entire day and a half.

_Get with me, girl, get with me_

_'Cuz that man of yours just ain't no good_

_Saw him under the bleachers of the school_

_Bangin' your best friend_

_So just get with me_

_And forget that man of yours_

_'Cuz he ain't no good, 'cuz he ain't no good_

_He just ain't no good for you girl_

**####**

**Yokohama Disease Research Facility; June 20th, 1994**

* * *

"How are the subjects doing?" Kyosuke asked as he walked in that morning, seeing his fellow doctors and nurses keeping an eye on the sickened Naegis, as well as their fellow townspeople.

"We believe Miss Naegi will be the next to go," A nurse nodded at him, and Kyosuke walked over to the monitor and stared inside, watching a teenage girl with brownish-green hair lying stiffly in her hospital bed, hooked up to an IV. She breathed in shallow breaths, a dizzy appearance in her eyes and her skin completely flushed.

"How about the other one?"

"Still fit as a fiddle,"

"Really?" Kyosuke widened his eyes in disbelief. He turned his attention over to the monitor next to Komaru's and indeed caught an image of Makoto in a simple pair of pajamas, reading a manga while tucked in bed. His IV was placed on the other side of the room, and there was an empty food tray by his side.

"We do tests on him almost every day and the most of a reaction we've been able to detect are antibodies. His body formed the antibodies, but it didn't sicken him. The antibodies passed harmlessly from his bloodstream after several hours. It is mystifying, we can't explain it," A nurse explained carefully. She had dark brown hair pulled into a frizzy ponytail.

"Hm."

The nurse quickly strapped herself into a bright orange hazmat suit with the help of Kyosuke and another nurse; once she was fully suited-up, she got a tray full of medicine and other medical equipment and pushed it into Makoto's room, giving him a nice smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Naegi! How are you feeling today?"

"Good," Makoto gave the nurse the same nice smile, gently setting down his manga.

"Have a lot of an appetite, huh?" She nodded towards the empty tray, and Makoto offered it to her.

"Yeah...I actually ate it so fast today I got hiccups!" He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Just some more tests. Can you please hold out your arm? We'll need to take more blood samples," She took out a syringe and gently held it out in front of Makoto so he could see.

"Um, how's my family doing?" He asked instead, making no move to hold out his arm. "I mean, I've been here for a while and I haven't seen them at all. How are they?"

"They're perfectly fine. Mr. Naegi, your arm, please." She continued to smile, gesturing for his arm. Makoto very slowly surrendered it, keeping an eye on her.

"May I please see them? Even if I can only talk to them on the phone or something?"

He recalled when the quarantine arrived in his small community of Yokohama. The government was not there, but several members of the self-defense force had arrived to help the community members onto ambulances to take them to the disease-control center. He remembered the resistance and fear; of people trying to run away or argue with the soldiers and struggle as they were all but dragged onto the ambulances.

His mother looked worried, her hands over her mouth, while his father was just quietly trying to reassure them both, that whatever was going to happen would be over soon enough. They'd be tested negative and released after a few days once the concern had passed. Komaru was in tears, crying as she tightly hugged Makoto. He still felt those tears soaking into his shirt as she cried.

"We can't go with them, Big Brother. If we go with them, we'll get that food poisoning too! I don't want to throw my organs up out through my mouth!" She had gripped him tightly, making him gasp a bit.

"We'll be fine, Komaru-chan. I promise. What kind of a big brother would I be if I didn't keep my word?" He had smiled down at her, but it did very little to soothe her. They were rounded up into the ambulance and Komaru and Makoto were made to sit on benches across from each other while a nurse decked out in a neon haz-mat suit offered them both orange juice. Makoto politely declined, but Komaru took it and drank it all down in one breath. She then collapsed on the bench, falling asleep for the rest of the ride.

Once they arrived, they were herded up into different rooms, and Makoto was able to see for a brief second his sister vomit from the nerves all over her clothes; it was stringy like vines. That was all he could make out before the nurses took him into his own room and shoved a pair of pajamas into his face, telling him he would be monitored closely for any developing signs of illness.

And that was how he ended up in the current situation.

"No, you may not," The nurse shook her head and carefully pricked his arm with the needle. His eyes widened involuntarily as Kyosuke wandered in, dressed in the same suit the nurse was.

"You're the head doctor around here, right? May I please go see my family? Even my sister? I'm really worried about her," Makoto tried to give the best least-threatening smile that he could.

"I hope you understand why we can't honor that request, Mr. Naegi. We need to keep everyone here under constant lockdown. If anyone tries to leave, it might compromise all of our research, as well as releasing more pathogens into the environment," He explained calmly. "Do not ask us again,"

Makoto clenched his fists in annoyance. "My sister threw up from being afraid when we first arrived here. She cried the whole time we were rounded up, and cried when we first saw Mr. Kirigiri tumble out of his car. She needs someone to make her feel better,"

"Then one of the nurses here would be happy to help her with that," Kyosuke turned around and left the room, and the nurse left with him, having finished up her test. Makoto sighed and slumped back into bed, staring up at the stark white ceiling above him.

He briefly tried to close his eyes, only to see a flash of that dehydrated, bloody, silver-haired woman in the passenger's seat, and he quickly jumped back up in fright, feeling his heart quicken. When would that happen to him? It wasn't like he was actually begging to be sick or anything, but he had been laying in the research facility for what seemed like several months without a single measly symptom popping up. He knew what they were; Kyosuke explained them all the moment he had changed into his pajamas. He hadn't had a single trace of a headache nor nausea, no fatigue or muscle pains or even a slight fever.

When would it happen? When would he get sick? Or, barring that he had developed some sort of immunity, when would he finally be allowed out? When could he see his family again?

Trying to close his eyes again and just being met with visions of that dead Mrs. Kirigiri again, he finally gave up on trying to sleep and turned the TV in his room on, aimlessly watching some tech show.

* * *

Komaru was still lying in her bed, briefly blinking a few times. She felt a bit better now...she did! Sure, her head hurt like crazy and she could barely lift it, as well as how hot she was...but she felt perfectly fine!

_You're just a stupid, worthless girl._

_Worthless._

_There's nothing special about you at all._

...Huh...?

_You don't even attend a real school! You just go to some missionary religious school because they were the only ones who'd accept such a talentless girl like you!_

Komaru clenched her fists and suddenly developed a coughing fit, managing to quickly sit up in bed as she coughed deeply, finally vomiting up blood into a small tray placed at her head to catch any.

_Worthless. Worthless. Worthless._

"I-I'm not worthless...I'm useful for something! I just know that I am!" She found herself crying out, but her voice sounded a million miles away. A sudden flash of pain forced her back down onto the bed with a groan. Was she delirious? Was she dying?

_Even your own brother has more talent than you,_

She groaned in pain again, spitting up another sliver of blood. If she just ignored the voices, they'd go away. They'd just go away if she ignored them...

_Komaru-chan...Komaru-chan..._

Someone was shaking her. Their voice sounded kind, and their aura warm and pleasant. Komaru slowly opened her eyes and smiled, seeing the vision of her family at the other end of her room. They were alright! They had recovered! They wouldn't die from that awful food poisoning thing!

_Come with us, Komaru-chan...!_

She found herself nodding and eagerly sat up in bed, reaching out her hand. "I'm coming...I'm here!"

In that moment, anyone who saw her would say she looked perfectly healthy and fit, without the flush of a fever on her skin. The only noticeable difference were the swirling patterns in her eyes.

At the last second, she suddenly seized up and collapsed onto the bed, her eyes open still and her arm stretched out towards the sky. Blood dripped from her mouth. Her heart monitor flat-lined loudly.

Makoto was the only one of the Naegis still left alive.

**###**

**Please report any headaches, fatigue, fevers, or muscle pains to your local medical center! Do so immediately if you experience any strange personality changes! It is not just the flu! It may be a sign of something more serious!**

**###**

**Nagoya; June 20th; 1994**

* * *

Right next to the entryway where they placed their shoes and umbrellas was a large shrine that was always opened up to reveal several offerings of incense, a bouquet of fresh flowers, and two faded photographs. Sayaka stared at the shrine as she sat on the flowery couch, wishing for once she could just close the curtains on it. It had remained open for the past nine years, and she somehow knew it would remain open for the next nine as well.

"Father." She said firmly when she spotted the blue-haired man about to make a leave for work, already dressed in his suit with a briefcase. "I know you're in a hurry, but I have something important to tell you,"

"I really don't have the time for it. Why can't you discuss it with one of your friends? Or that boyfriend of yours?" He didn't even look at her; instead, his focus was trained entirely on the shrine.

"It's not really something they can help me with," Sayaka finally turned the TV off and turned around to face her father. "I'm pregnant. It's Shuichi-kun's. He offered to marry me, but I turned him down-"

Her father suddenly rushed at her, making Sayaka suddenly flinch and hold her hands up in front of her face. He raised his hand as if to strike her, only to lower it a few seconds later. Her hands remained in front of her face.

"And? Just give it up for adoption. Actually, you want to be a famous singer, right? Abort it then. You always go on about how those idol girls have to look a certain way, right? Just do that," There was no amusement in his tone as he stared her down.

"Father!" She gasped. "I would never abort this baby. It's just as much a part of me as it is him, probably even more so. This baby stays,"

"Your mother wouldn't have liked that. Not at all. Not one bit," Mr. Maizono looked over at the picture again.

"But Sachiko-chan would've," She added softly.

He _did_ strike her that time, hard enough to make her fall off the couch. She tried to grab something as she fell, only grabbing air and she landed hard on her back. Her hair covered part of her face.

"You don't know what your sister would've wanted,"

"And you don't know what Mother would've wanted," She snapped back as she noticed him leaving. "I'm keeping this baby, Father. And there's nothing you can do about it,"

"Fine. Serves me right. I lose the only good daughter, and then I wake up to the fact that my other daughter has been sleeping around. Any other guys you'd like to tell me about?"

"It's just him," Sayaka very slowly started to pull herself off the floor.

Her father was silent as he stared her down for a few minutes, then left the house, not even slamming the door. Sayaka found herself wishing he had. If he had, it might've disturbed the neighbors and then they'd have to come out and see what was wrong, and then Sayaka would have to explain that her father is a jerk and always had been for nearly the past decade. But no, he shut it quietly.

She finally pulled herself off the floor and took another look at the shrine. The first picture was of a woman who resembled an older Sayaka in a mod-print dress and crazy earrings. The one next to it was of a girl in a neon tracksuit and short cropped hair, smiling and waving happily to the camera.

Her father just hadn't been the same ever since her mother and younger sister, Sachiko, had died in some boating accident even Sayaka had trouble recollecting despite being present. She shook her head.

There was no school that day; she was free to do whatever she wanted. She walked over to the telephone and pulled out the huge yellow phone-book, sighing a bit when she loudly slammed it onto the coffee-table. She opened it up and went straight to the residential section, ignoring the huge amount of business numbers they always shoved into the front. She reached the 'sa' section and paused, running her finger along the names listed and tracing the small little dots next to them to find the appropriate number. Once she found it, she slowly punched the numbers in and held the phone up to her ear, listening to it ring.

"Hello, this is the Saihara residence, may I help you?" The weak voice filled her head up.

"Hey, Shuichi-kun...I just wanted to have a talk with you," She twirled a strand of her blue hair around on her finger.

**####**

**Yokohama Disease Research Facility; June 21st, 1994**

* * *

Makoto managed to have a good dream for once that night. Was it a good dream? At the time, it felt pleasant and filled him with good, nostalgic feelings, nostalgic for a place and time he had never even experienced. He heard singing; a pretty and clear voice, and was instantly drawn to it.

Fog surrounded most of his vision, and he made out long fields of rice in front of him that stretched for miles and miles. The shadow of a large temple was in the far distance.

What was the girl singing? It sounded like some sort of traditional song one would dance to, like those ones they often played for New Year's. The girl had the wrong voice for it; she sounded sweet and young instead of syrupy and mature. Makoto stepped closer to the voice, finding a small old-fashioned house reach his vision. A small wooden porch with a sliding door and low roof that were all obscured by the fog. He smiled peacefully and reached out toward the house.

Somehow, he knew he had to get there, to see who was singing, where that house even was. He could just barely make out the faint shadow of someone twirling around on the porch; he couldn't make out any specific details about them though. He couldn't even tell if it was a girl or a boy.

Suddenly, the warm air turned chilly and Makoto shivered beside himself. The fog grew thicker and the singing stopped entirely, the shadow on the porch gone. He had an overwhelming desire to run; he felt choked, like he was drowning.

And so run he did, feeling his bare feet squish into the soaked rice paddies. A laugh followed him, and he slowed down his run just enough to catch sight of a female shadow this time with glowing red eyes, just staring at him. He couldn't make out any other features about her aside from her wide grin that she covered with a hand.

Makoto shivered as her eyes suddenly flashed red and he clutched at his head, feeling a wave of pain wash over him.

When he awoke, he was still in his hospital bed, with no rice fields in sight. He had a sudden urge to visit Hiroshima despite never having been.

**###**

**Shinjuku; June 21st; 1994**

* * *

"You're telling me some girl hit you in the face with a spatula," Lisa sighed as she looked over her son's appearance. "Serves you right for ditching me in the middle of the night like that," She ran her hand along the cut on his forehead, making him roll his eyes. "Kanon-chan is going to nag you over this,"

"She shouldn't, it's not like it's life-threatening or anything," Leon sighed again. "If she keeps putting up such a fuss, I'll just take her out to see a movie. What's playing? Some giant monster flick?"

"Take her to see a sports movie, or a romance," Lisa suggested as she headed back into the kitchen. "I need to make sure those eggs I cooked are cooked all the way through,"

"Nobody will care if they're a little runny. I actually think Uncle Seishiro loves runny eggs," Leon looked over at the knock of a door and hurried over, his eyes widening when Kanon suddenly pounced on him, giving him a large hug.

"Big Brother! Oh, I haven't seen you in forever! Oh, why didn't you take me with you on your grand tour?" She demanded, throwing her shoes off next to her parents'.

"It wouldn't really be your thing, Kanon-chan," Leon shrugged, gently pushing her off. "Besides, I got a popular song on the radio now! With any stroke of luck, I'll get asked on world tours almost weekly! You can come with me then, I promise,"

"You promise?"

"I don't just promise it, I swear it," Leon nodded, and Kanon gave him a smile.

"I'm holding you to that," Kanon was a pretty blonde girl with short hair tied back with a purple scrunchie to match her tiny slip dress and matching flats with spiky jewelry pretty much anywhere she could fit it. "Look, look," She motioned to her lip, and Leon whistled.

"Did piercing your lip hurt?"

"Nah, but now everywhere I go, people give me the stink eye as if they've never seen a punk girl before. It's so annoying! Like, who cares?"

Leon had to nod in agreement at that. If there was one thing he knew about Kanon, it was that when she wanted something, she got it, no matter what. And if she wanted to develop a more punkish style to match his, then nobody would be able to stand in her way.

"Oh, Lisa-san, did you make those eggs? They smell delicious," Mrs. Nakajima complimented nicely, already taking a seat at the table. Lisa smiled happily.

"I sure did! I hope you don't mind that they're a little runny though," She started to serve everyone.

"Are you kidding me? I love runny eggs!" Mr. Nakajima exclaimed, making his family laugh. Leon and Kanon sat next to each other, across from her parents, while Lisa sat at the head.

"Where did that cut come from?" Mrs. Nakajima continued, motioning to the small scrape just above Leon's eyebrow. Kanon stared at it for the first time and gasped in concern.

"It wasn't from anything bad, some chick I hung out with last night threw a spatula at me when I left," Leon grumbled.

"You slept with another chick?" Kanon gave Leon an extremely dirty look.

"Not like it matters, I'm never going to see her again. She started complaining about how I'm a womanizer and how all rockers are the same," He sipped his tea. "Whatever. Only good thing about her was her accent. I haven't heard an accent from Nagoya in what seems like forever,"

"Oh yeah, that really drawl-sounding one?" Lisa asked.

"No, it's more like...I don't know, she added inflictions where there didn't need to be and shortened a lot of her words. Oh, whatever. Like I said, we'll never meet again," He cut up some of his eggs with the side of his fork.

"Hmph," Kanon stared angrily at Leon.

"I didn't know people from Nagoya came all the way down here to Shinjuku," Mr. Nakajima commented.

"I can't see why they wouldn't. It's a lot more fun here. Shopping and music and fashion," Mrs. Nakajima said.

"Speaking of which, how about you two go to a movie later? Bound to be some good things playing," Mr. Nakajima addressed his nephew, making him jump as Kanon eagerly clasped her hands together.

"Perfect! We could go see that new baseball movie!" She smiled, then looked over at Leon.

"Sounds like it'll be a fun time," Lisa mirrored her niece's smile and the family continued to eat their breakfast, talking of other non-consequential things.

* * *

Once everyone had finished eating, Leon put on a more presentable shirt and both young adults put on their shoes before waving goodbye and heading out into the city, deciding to take a cab.

"Oh, there's no line for the games!" Kanon exclaimed in surprise, motioning over to them. "Not even the dancing game,"

"Well, we've got some time before the movie starts. Want to try it out?" Leon suggested, reaching for his wallet. He inwardly winced at the thought of spending even more money, but he knew it'd be worth it if it made Kanon happy and got his mom off his back.

She was already five steps ahead of him though, pulling out the amount of yen needed and shoving it into the machine, bouncing eagerly at the thought of playing something athletic. Leon shook his head and remained at the side, watching her dance and jump around on all of the colourful arrows, even managing to get in a well-timed spin or flip in there. She had multiple combos and the blaring music and announcements had attracted quite a few children and teenagers to their location to gawk in amazement.

"Whoa, she's so good!" A boy gasped.

"Yeah, not to mention pretty!" Another blushed.

"You think she's a professional dancer?" A girl asked curiously.

"Maybe she's an idol in disguise!" Her friend whispered back.

Once Kanon was finished, she stepped off after taking note of her high-score and pulled out her sweaty ponytail, running a hand through her hair and pulling it back up. She spotted Leon over at the concession area and waved to him, going inside the theater. She picked a seat near the middle and sat down, adjusting her dress slightly so that her bra wouldn't hang out.

Leon arrived a few minutes later with two trays of nachos and two Slushees and handed each to Kanon, keeping his own as he sat next to her. She gave him a happy smile and started to slurp at her Slushee, not even noticing that it wasn't her favourite flavour. She stared at Leon as he continued to get himself situated for the movie.

"Big Brother, when you go on another tour, and go to America, can you please take me with you?" She asked carefully, eyeing him. The lights started to dim.

"Sure, but why the sudden interest?"

"I've read a lot of American fashion magazines and seen some of their movies. I can't understand a lot, 'cept for some of the slang. Well, I'm trying to say that I think I'd be more appreciated over there than here. A lot of the girls look like me and dress like me. I just want to be in a place my aesthetic is more appreciated, you know?" She slurped more of her drink and Leon nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense, and I get that. I promise you and I swear that my next tour to America, I'll take you," He wrapped his arm around her, and Kanon smiled widely up at him and rested her head on his shoulder.

After they finished watching their movie, Kanon stared strangely at a man asking one of his friends to cover his shift so he could leave early and nurse his raging headache.

"Why are you so worried, Kanon-chan? He's just got a headache," Leon tugged on her arm to make her move.

She found herself nodding in agreement with him. "Just a headache,"

**####**

**Somewhere Near Shibuya; June 22nd, 1994**

* * *

Out of all the dangerous people Hajime Hinata had to get himself involved with, it had to have been the yakuza. It had all happened so fast; one minute, he was asking their scorned heiress out on a date, the next, he was finding himself preparing to rob a convenience store with her cousin's friend. Well, he reasoned to himself, it could be worse. He didn't really know how it could be worse, but he just had to keep convincing himself that it could be.

"Got your own knife?" The guy asked him; a blond, just as almost everyone in that family was. Hajime would've questioned it at a better time that never ended up coming. Instead, he nodded, placing a hand on the satchel he wore. The guy nodded. "Great. You'll hopefully not need to use it, but just in case I get overwhelmed, pull yours out, grab something close to you, and run,"

Once they pulled up into the parking lot of their chosen store; just some random red-painted one, as the man said the location didn't matter, they turned the tape-player off and made themselves look as normal as possible before they walked inside.

"What are we getting?" Hajime whispered, taking notice of the small amount of shoppers in the store. A typical middle-aged business man was buying ramen at the counter, while a group of gyarus whispered excitedly to each other as they looked over the candy selection, charms all hanging from their backpacks.

"Whatever looks good. Honestly, you can get whatever you want. Just wait for my signal so you know when to go after the register," The blond nodded and walked ahead, while Hajime awkwardly shuffled past the group of gyarus and looked at the selection of pre-packaged mochi snacks. He noticed some kusa-flavoured ones and picked those off the rack, holding them close to his chest. He said he could have whatever he wanted, after all.

He walked further, just looking at all of the other things available. He noticed a foreign girl staring at him intently, with dark hair and vibrant green eyes. She had to have been a foreigner; wearing washed-out tiny shorts with hippy patterns, a butterfly hair-clip pinning back her bob, and a tight black crop top with matching boots and a choker. Hajime nodded at her, wondering what she wanted. She just nodded back and turned away, Hajime nearly jumped when he realized the wings on the butterfly clip moved in motion with her head.

"There's nothing good here!" Yakuza-guy shouted, and Hajime quickly braced himself and felt his hands fly to his satchel, recognizing the signal. "How dare they, not entertain someone of my status?"

The business-man was long gone by that point, and Hajime took his place near the front of the counter, placing his hands on it.

"Hey, want to give us some of the money in that register as compensation?" He tried his best to grin evilly, feeling like he was failing at it. The cashier briefly glanced behind him before shaking his head.

"Wrong answer," Yakuza-guy slipped the knife out of his sleeve and showed it off to the cashier, looking around the store for a potential victim. He saw the girl in the hippy shorts trying to run, so in a flash, he pinned her to the wall and held her close, holding the knife up to her throat. "Give us the money, or we will slit the throat of every person here!"

Hajime nodded, remaining silent. His time for talking was over. He kept a tight grip on his satchel. The gyarus screamed, suddenly realizing that something major was happening as they tried to run from the store.

"Don't let anyone escape!" Yakuza-guy shouted at Hajime, who nodded and rushed after the girls, yanking their leader by her long ponytail and shoving her down onto the floor. She looked at him with tears in her eyes as he whipped out his own pocketknife, making sure she got a good look at the blade. Her friends remained there, terrified. "Now, do you understand us? Give us the money in the register, and nobody has to get hurt,"

"No, I called the authorities, they're already on their way," The cashier spilled out in a nervous rush. "You can't kill anyone like that,"

"Oh?" He pressed the blade closer to the girl's neck. Hajime could see she was sweating intensely, her eyes wide. Every part of her was trembling. "Even if you did, we can still escape. We got friends. We wore plain clothing. We can get away,"

Hajime nodded along, though he found himself doubting his partner's words. Could they really? They didn't have the forethought to wear masks, and even though he was fairly plain-looking, people talk. He was the friend of a cousin from the yakuza. He wouldn't remain hidden for long. Hajime, though, he could easily slip away if need be.

"I'm not giving you the money in the register!" The cashier suddenly shouted, pulling out a small shotgun from behind the counter. "I got this from overseas. Slit that girl's throat, and I'll make sure far worse is done to you,"

Blond guy simply smiled and made a fast but clear incision in the girl's neck, throwing her down onto the ground. Blood trickled from the cut as he threw the bloody knife aside.

The gyaru Hajime had pinned down started to cry and her friends screamed. The cashier cocked the gun and aimed it right at the yakuza-guy, firing multiple rounds as he kept dodging. Junk food and soda of various types fell from the shelves loudly, breaking and shattering and spilling their contents everywhere. Hajime felt his eyes widen as the member was finally shot in the chest, collapsing into a shelf of magazines.

He had to get out of here. Otherwise, he'd be shot next.

Not paying much attention to his surroundings, he threw the knife down to the ground and ran off, leaving the terrified gyaru alone. She slowly pulled herself up to her knees and stared after him in slight confusion, but Hajime was already long-gone by that point.

Where was their car? If he found it, he could very easily drive off in it-

"Hinata-san, eh? Looks like we got here in just the nick of time," One of the officers nodded, and soon another one had grabbed Hajime and pinned his hands behind his back.

"Hey, you have the wrong idea! I didn't actually kill any of the people in there, I was just trying to get a snack when this guy with a knife went wild!" He explained in desperation, motioning to his bag. "The snack is still in there if you don't believe me!"

"A thief too, huh?" The officer shook his head as they threw Hajime into the police car. "Well, we'll get you all sorted-out, don't you worry about a thing. Tokyo's main prison is always looking for more people to fill the empty spots,"

Hajime grumbled to himself as the car door was slammed and he was left in the back of the police car. He leaned against the seat. Tokyo, huh? Well, he had always wanted to see the main part of the city.

Just not in chains.

**####**

**Osaka; June 23rd, 1994**

* * *

Chihiro found himself developing a bit of an admiration for Daiya. Not only was the man the sort of strength that Chihiro hoped to one day radiate from himself, but he had also kept true to his word and helped him lock away the goons who had beat him and robbed him a few days ago, all just because he thought he was a girl. True, Daiya might've still done it if he had known Chihiro's secret, but he liked to think otherwise. He had even managed to find Chihiro a job helping him keep an eye on the prisoners to help him recover the pay he had lost when he was jumped.

_Are you sure your girlfriend won't mind me coming over for dinner?_ Chihiro wrote that night, holding the notebook in front of his face.

"No, she won't mind it at all. Might even appreciate the company. She doesn't get out much so I think she'll enjoy havin' another chick 'round," Daiya clutched at his throat. "Hopefully she can do all of the talkin' tonight. This sore throat is...well, I don't swear in front of ladies, but you can probably figure it out,"

Chihiro nodded. He had a feeling.

Karen turned out to be a small and shy girl with square glasses and greenish-black hair cut into a bob with hime-style bangs. Much to Chihiro's surprise, she wore a knee-long skirt and laced-up uniform blouse all in a shade of brown. A baseball jacket was worn around her shoulders.

"She's a bit of a softie, but people take one look at her clothes and they go runnin'. They think she's a thug,"

Chihiro stifled a smile with his hand and gently bowed to her. She looked at him in surprise before bowing back in greeting.

"Um, hello. I hope you don't mind that...I made some dumplings and pork soup with some bubble tea. Is that enough for you? Do you like that? Can you eat that?" She spoke slowly and clearly.

_It sounds delicious!_ Chihiro offered her a smile, and she visibly relaxed and started serving the food.

"As I was sayin', I just feel so sorry for her. Osaka can be rough on outsiders and I just feel bad that such a nice girl had to be attacked here on one of her first days," Daiya explained to Karen, who nodded. She stirred the broth around in her bowl, having taken only two bites out of one of her dumplings. "But I'm glad she's here now. She's been a big help around the place, you know. We don't get too much traffic aside from a few lost folk, but that's alright. She'll need to stick around for the trial, and I just thought she deserved to do more than just sit around,"

"Oh, the ghastly trial. I hope she'll be alright," Karen took another bite of her dumplings, stifled a cough, and set it down. Chihiro had already eaten through all of his food. "Oh, do you want dessert, Chihiro-chan? I have a platter of sweet potatoes,"

He nodded happily, placing a hand on his stomach. Karen got up and cleared away everyone's dishes, staring at Daiya's.

"Hm. You barely touched your food," She then stared at her boyfriend, who rolled his eyes slightly.

"I'm not tryin' to start something with ya, but so? You barely eat every single day and I can't complain,"

"Still have a fever?"

"Yes, but it's gettin' better!"

"I...I just think that maybe you should take a break from the job. Here, why don't you have Chihiro-chan take over for a day? She doesn't have to do much but keep an eye on the prisoners and help out anyone who goes to her for advice,"

"She's not an actual citizen of Osaka though. I can't officially make her a worker,"

"Make her a citizen then!" Karen returned to the table with the sweet potatoes. "Oh, just don't eat too many of these, Chihiro-chan. You know what they say,"

"A girl as cute as her can't possibly get an upset stomach!" Daiya teased as Chihiro dug in. "Fine, fine, I'll take a day off. But only a day,"

"Good." Karen smiled at him.

Chihiro looked from Daiya to Karen and thought that she had a lot of control over her boyfriend, despite the obvious size and temperament differences. He wondered how they managed to make it work. It wasn't any of his business anyway.

After they ate, Karen cleaned up after dinner and Daiya filled Chihiro in on everything he needed to do, shrugging out of his leather jacket.

"Just keep an eye on the prisoners and make sure they're doing good. If one of them tries to tell ya that he's sick, ignore him. If he truly is sick, the doctor can come in the morning. Karen-chan usually sends some TV dinners their way every night. You have a cot in the corner for tonight as well," He coughed into his sleeve. "Oh, I feel terrible leaving such a small girl like ya to do this. But she's right, I can't keep up like this forever,"

Chihiro nodded again. _Thank you for entrusting me with this in the first place. I promise I won't let you down!_

"I really wanna know, though, girlie. How'd you even end up in a city like this? Don't ya got any concerned folks? How'd you learn to do all that computer work you speak of anyway?"

_It's a long story._

"How about ya tell me? Not right now, 'course. Down at the station. You can write down that whole thing there. Maybe it'll get published," He teased, patting Chihiro's head.

_Like my life story?_

"Yeah, call it that," He coughed again. "Karen-chan! My fever's just not going away,"

"I'll get you some medicine," She stated before seeing Chihiro out the door. She gave him a careful bow and he returned it. "See you later. I hope you stay safe,"

After she shut the door, Chihiro set off, blinking as he remembered seeing just a tinge of reddish-pink on Daiya's elbow after he coughed.

* * *

The TV dinners arrived a few minutes after Chihiro did, and the man explained he was told by Karen to just walk inside and ask for the payment.

_It's right here._ Chihiro motioned to the pile he left out on the desk. The delivery boy took it and stared him down.

"Can you talk, chick?"

_I'm afraid not._

"Life must be a bitch for you then. Well, gotta go,"

He nodded in response and picked the trays up, heating them up in the microwave and then carrying each one to each cell. Kokichi's three goons managed to be caught, but Kokichi had fled and could be anywhere in the east by that point. Chihiro just counted his blessings that at least three of the guys who attacked him were found.

He pushed each tray through a slot in the door carefully, his small statue making it quite easy. He made sure not to accidentally spill anything as he went to each one. He quickly glanced up into one of the cells to catch an insult on one of the goon's lips, smirking at him. "Dumb bitch in every sense of the word,"

Chihiro gave a shy smile back and simply shoved the food into the cell, ignoring him. He then stood up and turned away. He dusted his hands off on his skirt and shot a final look back at the cells before he took a seat at the desk in Daiya's office.

He wanted to write the story of his life for Daiya, but where did he even start? What did he even call it? He tapped his pencil against the paper for a bit before eventually just writing the title at the top and going from there.

_The Story of My Life by Chihiro Fujisaki._

_I was born in Nagasaki in a small village in 1972. Both Mama and Papa were one of the first people who had access to computers because they worked in factories that built them and helped them run. Papa was always better at that job than Mama was, but Mama was better at coding than he was. They made enough money to get by, but since computers weren't as popular yet they often had trouble selling what they had made. My earliest memories are of being surrounded by those computers in Papa's old, empty study. Nothing but computers stretched for as far as my little eyes could see._

_Papa died from a disease. Of all the things to die from, it had to be that. Well he did, a few months before I was born actually. Mama ended up taking two jobs to help support me because she just knew I was destined for greatness. She said it all of the time. It must've been rough on her; having lost her husband and then having a son a few months later who was deaf and later on was found to not be able to speak either. Oh, but Mama never complained. At least, I can't recall her ever complaining. She was the one who taught me how to read, code, and bake. She took up a job at a local bakery around '75 or '76. In 1978, she got killed too, by another disease. To this day, I'm still not sure if it was the same one that killed Papa or not._

_After she died, due to how popular she was in the community; she was always far more social than I was for obvious reasons, a lot of people paid for her funeral and took care of her will, and I myself was placed in an orphanage run by some Catholic missionaries. St. Elbandia's Orphanage. It was there that I not only learned how to write but also take better care of myself, as well as strengthen my reading skills._

Chihiro stopped there, thinking about what to say next. It looked simple on paper, but nothing was ever that simple in life, was it? That was what his mama always told him when she was teaching him how to code. So many simple-looking characters and numbers and symbols that all mean something bigger, something more. They all came together to make something that worked.

He hadn't really understood it at the time, even when she wrote his name out on the blinking computer screen in the word processor.

_That's your name, Chihiro-chan. Can you read it?_

Life at the orphanage was no better. He was constantly picked on and beat up by the other boys, for being deaf, for being mute, for being too weak and kind to fight back. The girls shunned him, not wanting him in their groups. During playtime, he'd often just sit alone on the swings, swinging, watching everyone else play and laugh and _live._ At one point, he had even started to dress as a girl, thinking it'd make the bullying stop. He couldn't even remember his thought process or when it happened or where he even got the clothes, he just recalled the image of a tiny seven-year-old, fluffing out a big brown skirt held out by a crinoline.

Things got a little bit better for him with the arrival of a new worker to the orphanage when Chihiro himself was around eleven. The man scared a lot of the others off unintentionally with his dark aura, so they never knew about the little hamsters that hid in his pockets and only showed themselves to those they deemed worthy.

In the rec room of that very same orphanage, Mr. Tanaka firmly placed a piece of blank paper down and a pencil, then gestured to both that and Chihiro. Chihiro, confused, started to write on the paper, only to earn a slap on the wrist. Mr. Tanaka shook his head and did the motions again.

Finally, Chihiro understood and pointed to himself, realizing what he meant. He was the paper. Mr. Tanaka nodded and took Chihiro's hand, reaching it into his pocket. His eyes widened when he felt something soft and warm and fluffy. Tears streamed from his eyes.

Chihiro returned to the paper he was writing, rubbing his eyes a bit and stretching out his wrist.

_Mr. Tanaka taught me how to write better. Looking back, he couldn't have been a few years older than me and just a volunteer, yet he decided to spend all of his free-time on teaching me, this stupid, deaf-mute child who dressed like a girl._

_In 1986, the orphanage finally had run out of money and sent a lot of the children to homes. They never found one for me. They never said it out-loud, but I knew it was because of my various issues. People probably thought I'd be too hard to take care of. I originally asked to go live with Mr. Tanaka, but he was off in Australia researching new breeding techniques. I was fully on my own. Afraid of what would happen next, I just ran away. I was fourteen at the time and terrified of being caught and put in some other orphanage. Strangely, it was easier being out on my own looking the way I did. Everyone was willing to spare a few bites or coins for a lovely, lonely young lady. There was a recession at some point, but I didn't really notice._

_I took a few high-school classes when I could and worked the rest of the time, traveling from city to city. I almost have enough to graduate. I want to attend some high-tech university because I want to become a programmer like my parents were. With computers really popular right now, it just seems right. I also want to get a bunny as a pet. Mr. Tanaka loved animals and now I love them too. A cute little rabbit for my very own. Is that strange? Anyway, that's my story._

* * *

The next morning, Daiya arrived to watch Chihiro in the middle of sweeping up, and gently poked his back to get his attention.

"How are things going around here?"

_Good. But how are you? You seemed pretty sick last night,_ He winced at the sudden image of the red-pink splatter on Daiya's sleeve.

"I'm doin' a lot better. My fever spiked pretty bad last night, and Karen-chan hysterically tried to call the doctor. But then it broke just as fast. My sore throat is gone too. Oh, it was probably some random summer flu. I heard it's going 'round,"

Chihiro smiled gratefully. _I'm so glad to hear that! I'm happy you made a full recovery._

"Ya write down that life-story of yours like I suggested?"

He nodded and handed those sheets over, blushing and staring down at his feet. Daiya read them for a maddening long time before he finally sighed and looked Chihiro over carefully.

"So, ya ain't actually a chick?"

A shake of the head.

"Well, ya ain't doin' it for kicks at least. Hopefully here you'll reconsider," He then read some more. "And all out on your own for the past decade, huh? Must've been rough,"

He nodded.

"You really take all those classes? Which ones ya take?"

_It took a while to get used to everything because of how long it took me to learn how to write, but I soon got the hang of it. I take the usual requirements for high-school students. I also take typing classes and both Modern and Traditional Japanese. I also take English as it's a requirement too,_

"Taking a foreign language?"

Chihiro smiled awkwardly. _I still need physics, math, another year of typing, and an extracurricular class in order to be considered ready to graduate._

"Well, I'm glad you ran into us here. I'd like to see someone like ya workin' honestly at one of the places here. I hope those goons didn't scare ya too badly,"

He shook his head, smiling a bit.

"I called the doctor before I left. Not for me, but for ya. You're still lookin' pretty bad for the wear and we need to make sure you didn't get anything important knocked out of place," He coughed really heavily again, ignoring Chihiro's concerned stare. "Just a flu, sonnie."

Evidently the doctor was the person who almost hit Chihiro with her car after he got mugged. She also wore a mask around her face and had hair styled strangely and wore a long black Victorian gown with matching gloves.

Chihiro gestured curiously to her mask, but she shook her head. He waited for further explanation, but none came. Daiya cleared his throat.

"Ma'am, I don't mean to get into personal business, but this kid here is deaf. He can read ya lips, but only if he can see 'em,"

Seiko raised an eyebrow at the gendering, but shook her head and stared strangely at Chihiro. She finally pulled her mask down slightly.

"Only for my job...do I do this...anyway...come with me.." She had a strange way of speaking and motioned him over to a closed-off bathroom, shutting the door. She motioned for him to take his shirt off, and he did so, pulling the brown turtleneck off with ease. Seiko nodded and looked carefully at him, sliding her hands down his face. He shivered at the feeling of cold leather touching him. "Lower region is fine. Your face...banged-up pretty bad. You might even...lose a tooth or two..."

Figured. Well, it could always be worse, right?

"You deaf, he said...can you talk?"

He shook his head.

"Oh...defect?"

A nod.

"Oh...a shame...oh well...it's as I always say...things could be worse...be happy that you have what you have and never stop trying to make things better for others,"

Chihiro smiled at that. It reminded him of Mr. Tanaka in a way, for he always told him that the Fates always smiled kindly onto those who made their own way by treating others with respect.

_You're going to be a priestess! The best priestess the kingdom has ever seen! And the prettiest woman they've ever seen! Yes, you're going to be called The Priestess of Love!_

Seiko walked back outside with Chihiro and gave a nod to Daiya before she slipped her mask back on, motioning to the medical kit she brought.

"Hold on, did Karen-chan send you? I told her this morning and I'll tell her again, it's just the flu, nothing more. I don't need a doctor, pardon me for that, ma'am," He declined.

"You sent...besides...something is going around. Can't be too careful," She motioned over to the office chair, and with a sigh, Daiya sat.

"Looks like I'll be tucked up here for the long run, kid. Hey, why don't ya go visit Karen-chan? Take her that story ya gave me, she's taken a fancy to ya. She'd love to know more, I reckon,"

Chihiro nodded and started gathering up his things, giving a bow to both people present before he left for Daiya's house.

Seiko got right down to work, gently tugging Daiya's uniform shirt off and checking his heart-beat and temperature. "High fever,"

"Same as last night. I'll just take more medicine for it,"

"I know you...rescued me from poverty years ago, so don't think this is me being difficult. Please...home and rest...an order...you need to get better...something is going around and...I don't like the look of it," She stared him down.

"How many sick folks?" Daiya started to put his shirt back on.

"I think...at least twenty-four," She suddenly widened her eyes and shuffled over to a trash-can, crouching in front of it and ripping her mask off just in time to start throwing up blood into it. She breathed heavily.

"Ma'am, I think you should start gettin' home too. Maybe some of these folks are gettin' sick 'cuz ya treatin' them,"

Seiko stood there, trembling, looking at him. "I've always been...like this...but you...? A man of your size shouldn't be this tuckered-out after a cold..." She felt suddenly dizzy and hot. "If you do not go home...I will tell your girlfriend on you,"

"Fine, fine, I'm going. Just let me get things in order around here, and I'll go,"

Seiko nodded happily and took the payment she was due, heading back home.

* * *

"My, you've been through a lot," Karen blushed, looking away from Chihiro once she finished reading through his notes. He simply nodded. She was still wearing the uniform, but Chihiro had managed to change into a brown turtleneck, pleated blue miniskirt, and a matching blue scarf with black boots and white tights. "I'm sorry that...I thought you were a girl,"

_Don't apologize. Everyone thinks I'm a girl at first. I feel like, even if I_ did _dress like a boy, people might still make that mistake._

"Want something to eat?"

He shook his head. _How is Daiya-san doing?_

"Oh, fine, fine enough, I suppose. He has a really bad fever still, vomiting and coughing blood up everywhere. Weirdest thing is...he nearly tried to end his own life with the medicine pills I left by his bedside. I walked inside to check on him earlier and he had five or six of those in his palm,"

Chihiro felt his eyes widen in shock.

"Luckily, I still feel fine, just a tad sore, but it must be from all this running around...I'll bring dinner by the station later, alright?" She randomly walked into the kitchen and started to make it. She briefly glanced back at Chihro to say: "I feel bad for him. He's been working himself so hard these past few days because everyone on the force seems to be sick with it. Whatever it is...tomorrow I'm going to have to head up north to check on Mom. She's sick too. They all have fevers and headaches; a few are coughing up blood,"

He paled at the thought of it. _It doesn't seem like a regular flu. Tuberculous maybe? Or pneumonia? Does that make you cough up blood?_

Karen just shrugged unhelpfully. "Dinner," She handed him a simple sandwich with celery sticks and milk. "Sorry it's so simple, I haven't been able to go to the store yet..."

_That's fine. I'm going to go back. Please give your boyfriend my condolences. And your mother. And stay safe yourself. It sounds super nasty!_

Karen nodded and saw Chihiro out the door, coughing up a bunch of blood once he left. She fell to the floor and caught sight of the dirty knife she had used to make the sandwiches earlier. A swirly pattern appeared in her eyes and she smiled sadistically to herself. Almost rhythmically, she got the knife out of the sink and started to slowly trek up the stairs.

"Daiya-san...? Are you feeling any better...?" She flashed him that slasher smile as she opened the door to his bedroom.

* * *

Chihiro woke up early that morning, recalling a strange dream he had of being lost in a field of soaked rice paddies. In front of him was a pleasant, almost nostalgic feeling, and behind him was a feeling of immense dread and terror.

He cleaned up a bit around the station and looked at the prisoners; two were asleep and the third was awake, breathing heavily with a flushed face. Chihiro opened his mouth in shock and hurried off, making a mental note to call the doctor later. Or tell Daiya to call the doctor in; even better, he seemed far more familiar with her than Chihiro. He sat down at the desk again and started to flip through a magazine, just trying to pass the time.

After a few hours, Chihiro had read the whole thing front to back twice and pouted, feeling his stomach rumble in protest. Breakfast hadn't shown up for anyone, and Daiya hadn't arrived either. And he was pretty sure one of the prisoners had truly fallen ill. He glanced over at the phone, an anxious expression on his face.

The world was truly cruel to deaf-mutes. If only those sci-fi novels he loved passionately would predict the future more accurately. He'd be laughing in ten or twenty years when he could take care of all the calls he needed with just the tap of a button on one of those small flat-screens they promised to fit in your pocket. Kinda like the modern cell-phones, but far smaller and sleeker. Chihiro remembered someone at that karaoke bar had one and she had to carry it awkwardly alongside her purse.

Unable to wait any longer, he quickly wrote out a note explaining to whoever showed up that he was out to get both food and the doctor for one of the sick prisoners and that he should be back soon. Retying his scarf around his neck, he hurried outside, taking note of how it felt particularly warm and muggy already that day.

Osaka was usually a busy city, given its location it was to be expected, but everything today seemed as if someone had pressed 'stop' on everything. Barely any vehicles were on the road, and nobody was out for a walk. As Chihiro walked around more, he noticed several stores weren't even open, and he held his stomach nervously. What was going on? There wasn't any holiday going on that he had known about...

He noticed the familiar silver shine of Miss Seiko's car and anxiously waved at it, silently beckoning for her to stop. Stop she did, nearly hitting Chihiro again until he carefully took several stops back. She got out of the small car and leaned against it; Chihiro noticed the flushed skin and the tangled hair on her figure. After a few seconds of coughing, she pulled her mask down slightly, revealing a trail of blood going down.

"I know, I know, Daiya-san is dead. ...Did you...call me for that...?"

Chihiro couldn't stop his eyes from widening and a small gasp from escaping his lips. He quickly wrote down: _Seriously? He seemed just fine yesterday, nowhere near death at all,_

"...His girlfriend...sick too...I have a small doubt that he died from the illness...but she did...found her this morning, passed-out in a pool of blood from her mouth..."

He sickly swallowed, thinking of that.

"Almost everyone seems to be sickening...twelve more people died this morning...you know? You know?" She coughed again before gasping, throwing up a large amount of blood onto the street. "I just don't know...what it is...what it could be. It starts out like the flu, but gets so much worse...it gets so much worse..."

Chihiro pressed the notebook to his chest, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

"Why are you out, if not to say Daiya-san died?" She looked at him.

_I have to get breakfast. It never came for any of us. And I was trying to find you because one of the prisoners is sick._ He showed her the paper.

"If so...I'll come by later. Normally they'd be...low on my list, but Daiya-san is...a friend...so I owe him..." She shivered a bit and placed her hand on Chihiro's head. "How do you feel...? No fever, but...anything else? Sore throat? Muscle pains? Headache?"

He shook his head to all of those questions. Aside from being attacked, he had felt perfectly fine in the physical department.

"Good...that's good...listen, I have to go. But...I'll come by later. I promise," She slipped her mask back on and drove away, leaving Chihiro standing there alone. He hurried to a nearby diner and ordered a basic breakfast platter to go; four waitresses and two chefs were sick that day so his food took longer.

"Hope you didn't try to place an order. Turns out all of the phones are down," The waiter apologized nervously. Chihiro's eyes were as wide as saucers and they continued to be as he served the prisoners their breakfast.

One of them was dead by that evening. The doctor never came by.

**###**

**Random acts of violence and suicide have been plaguing the nation! All of the incidents are being done by people who were already sick with these flu-like symptoms. As a result, many have taken to calling it 'the crazies' for the seemingly-random behavior people afflicted with it develop. Once again, we must absolutely stress the importance of going to a medical expert if you experience any of these signs! It is likely not just the flu! You wouldn't want to be the result of your loved one's demise, would you?**

**####**

**Shinjuku; June 26th, 1994**

* * *

"She's been like this for the past few hours," Kanon whispered urgently to Leon when he arrived back at the house to check on his mother. Lisa had come down with the flu and both him and Kanon had been caring for her consistently, though Kanon often had to take long breaks to keep an eye on her own sick parents.

She pointed over at her aunt curled up on the couch, wearing a long T-shirt with her features flushed and some flecks of blood on it. "Leon, Leon! Where has your father gone off to this time? Do you know? Do you even care?" She berated.

"You mean spouting nonsense?" Leon was already hurrying over to her.

"It's the fever," Kanon remained a few steps away as he carefully lifted Lisa up-when had she been so light?-and tucked her back into her bed.

"Why was she out in the first place?"

"The phone rang and I let her get it because my parents' fevers spiked. She seemed perfectly fine, but had collapsed on the floor before even reaching it," She played with the black ring on her lip. "I've heard people talk, Big Brother. Not much, but they talk. Of how this disease thing was released by the government or something. Oh, are we going to die too? We're going to get sick and die too, aren't we?"

"No, we're not. If we survived this long being healthy, I think that's a good sign that we won't," He looked over at Lisa. "Go tend to your parents, I can handle her,"

Kanon nodded and very slowly left the room. He remained at his mother's side, quickly wetting a washcloth with cold water and placing it on her forehead and adjusting the blankets when she thrashed around in them.

How long is she going to be sick like this? And how much is this going to ruin his day? He winced at that last thought; it was bad but he still had it.

Should he call the hospital? An ambulance? Oh, what did Kanon do for her parents earlier? He didn't really want to talk to her at the moment, but had no other choice.

"I'll be right back," He reassured his mother before heading into the guest-room. "Kanon-chan, what did-"

Kanon was coughing quietly into her hand, hunched over so he couldn't get a good view of her. When she took a deep breath and pulled away, however, that was when he saw it.

Reddish-pink flecks of blood right on her palm.

**#####**

**Nagoya; June 27th; 1994**

* * *

A stormy afternoon greeted Sayaka when she checked the answering machine of the phone and saw she had received three calls. The first one was from one of her best friends offering her a place to move in, saying she didn't even mind children. Sayaka couldn't fight the small smile that came to her face at her friend's tone.

The second was from Shuichi, wanting to call her back. They had already spoken at length a few days ago, and he even mentioned several times he had already saved up the money for two rings-two rings! As if it mattered!-and was ready whenever she was.

The third was from the doctor, explaining her father had collapsed at work with a high fever and sore throat and was taken to the hospital for research. Something was going around, he had explained. Some people thought it came south from Tokyo, others say from the west from Yokohama. Nobody could decide. Sayaka clutched the phone at that. Did she even want to see her father? Did he even deserve her presence? Maybe she would just get sick too and have something else on her mind for once.

A loud clap of thunder startled her and she picked her umbrella up, writing down the address for the hospital and buttoning up her raincoat. She climbed onto her bicycle and started to pedal.

The doctor said it was just a bad flu. Just the flu, that was all.

**####**

**Yokohama Disease Research Facility; June 27th, 1994**

* * *

Makoto had to get out of there. He just had to. How long had it been since then? He had a feeling most of the staff who monitored him had gotten sick and died too; he didn't want to be negative like that, but what other answer was there? Everytime he turned the news on, it spoke of new outbreaks somewhere in Japan. Not just Japan anymore either, but China and Russia and the United States too. Likely some places in Europe as well. It was spreading fast and Makoto had no idea what to make of it. They still emphasized that it was the flu, just a particularly bad strain of it, and that everyone would be fine if they stayed inside and drank fluids.

How hard could it be to break out of a disease research facility?

**####**

**Undisclosed Location; June 27th, 1994**

* * *

Toranosuke had to meet with the Prime Minister that day. Somehow it was the thing that concerned him the least.

**###**

**Undisclosed Location; June 27th, 1994**

Where to go next? She had already seen a vast majority of everything Japan had to offer, and thensome. She loved to travel, it was in her blood. She studied the fashions of the gyarus from Shibuya, hooked up with some guys in Nagoya, helped the coders in Akihabara, and worshiped at the shrines in Hiroshima. And she would do it all over again.

However, she hadn't traveled much in the past week or so. No, she mainly stayed put in Tokyo, only really traveling around its special wards.

Something was coming, she knew. She didn't just know, she could feel it. Anarchy and chaos and violence and despair spread just as easily as any disease did. And with her luck, this disease would encompass all that and more.

It was her luck, after all, that resulted in that stupid Kirigiri man escaping in the nick of time to spread that glorious Despair Disease to the remainder of Japan, and eventually the world. All she had to do now was wait, sit back, and wait. Those who were worthy enough to join her would reveal themselves in time.

Some already spoke of her. The girl with the bear in her hair, they called her. She wore her strawberry-blonde waves in a ponytail today, with a small Kuma-chan hair-clip to tie it back and add a bit of flair. She wore a black choker and matching crop top patterned with purple geometric shapes. She opted for a more Western style today, shown by her jean hot pants and black ballet flats with a violet garter around her thigh.

The girl with the bear in her hair.

They didn't know her, but they felt her. Everytime she walked past, people would be filled with an endless amount of sheer despair. She loved that. She reveled in it. Despair had been around since the dawn of time, and she had been too, just taking different forms. This time, she just happened to take this one. And when she died, she'd just be reborn as something new again and start the whole cycle of despair over again.

After all, despair could only exist with hope, and hope could only exist with despair.

Only a little while longer. Then, she would finally be able to rebuild a new world from the ashes of the old one with her loyal subjects by her side. And then, she wouldn't just rule the world.

She would _own_ it.


	2. The Pandemic

**Part 2; The Pandemic, June 27th-July 4th, 1994 **

**##**

**A Prison in Tokyo; June 27, 1994**

* * *

The ride to prison actually wasn't even that bad, if Hajime had to admit it to himself. Nobody seemed to know he had gotten tangled up with the yakuza, and even the guards were more lax due to the fact they had 'bitchin' sore throats and nausea. Of course, they still undressed Hajime and put him into simple grey clothes with blue slippers, as well as running some tests on him to make sure he wasn't hiding a weapon anywhere. The guards showed him to his cell, then led him to a small interrogation room where a black-haired man was sitting; a lot of his hair had greyed by that point, making Hajime wonder how old he actually was. The guards sat him down and left him there, and the man cleared his throat.

"Ishimaru Takaaki is the name," He folded his hands on the table in front of him. "We're just going to go over what you can expect here,"

Hajime tried to reach out his hand to shake, but Takaaki waved it away. "I don't know why I'm in here. I didn't kill anyone, I just fled," He tried to explain. "We didn't even have any guns or anything, just knives,"

Takaaki nodded. "Anyone injured?"

"My partner killed one of the people in the store," He blurted out. "But the cashier shot him and killed him, so he's gone,"

"How old are you, Hinata-san?" Takaaki asked instead.

"Nineteen."

"Oh, so you're still a minor. Well, not that it matters much. You aren't going to receive the death penalty, as it was just an armed robbery and you claim you didn't kill anyone," He stared levelly at Hajime.

"I'm telling the truth on that. I dropped my weapon and everything!" He tried to remain clam, knowing panicking would only make him seem more guilty.

"The name of your partner?"

"He's dead, so it won't matter," Hajime grumbled, looking up to see Takaaki still staring at him. "Ryouhei-san. I don't recall his last name. He was just a friend,"

Takaaki stared at that, but returned to his notes. "The trial will be in a few days. Be happy that it's that quick. Though it's fairly obvious what happened, we still need to do so for the formality," He nodded. "You'll spend that time here, and you'll likely spend the remainder of the next few years here too. After all, you did participate in armed robbery,"

Hajime clenched his fists, knowing not to argue as he was led outside to the field for exercise. Takaaki gave him another brief look before he left him alone.

"Believe it or not, I actually do want to see you get out of here and make a name for yourself. You seem to be a victim of unfortunate circumstances,"

He snorted a laugh at that and started stretching a bit.

A victim of unfortunate circumstances. Didn't that just explain his life perfectly.

**####**

**Osaka; June 28th, 1994**

* * *

Chihiro pouted a bit as he closed the curtains again, having seen all he needed to see. A dead dog was in the gutter. The streets were deserted, and he tried to recall the last time he had seen so many 'Sorry, but We're Closed' signs before. He didn't think he ever had. He then turned and went over to the woman who was tied to the bed, her wrists bound with a layer of thick bandages.

Her hair was still unruly and her skin was still flushed, but she had taken off her mask and wore only black tights and an unbuttoned white dress shirt. Chihiro would've been embarrassed about it if he hadn't had other things on his mind; far more important things. Besides, she still had her bra on.

"She was stupid! She betrayed me! We were such close friends, and then she has the audacity to blame me?! No! No way! She's the one in the wrong, not me!" Seiko cried out angrily, tugging at her restraints. Chihiro absentmindedly rubbed the nasty bruise he received on his forearm earlier when she came at him with a broom-handle.

She took a deep breath and sighed, looking over at Chihiro with a spiral pattern in her eyes. "I'm going to vomit...bring me that bowl again. Unless you're as useless as that girl was...!"

Chihiro nodded slowly and brought her a metal cereal bowl, gently placing it in her lap as she was sitting up. As she retched into it, he politely turned away and started to run his finger over her surprisingly large collection of VHS-es; mostly foreign ones. Maybe a movie would calm her down. Movies seemed to have that effect on people. Chihiro never really liked them, since his attention-span was pretty bad when it came to actually watching and processing them. It was ironic, in a way, he could spend endless hours feeding code into a blank machine, but an explosion of colours did nothing for him.

Maybe it was that whole 'deaf' thing, but who could tell for sure?

Finally, he found a recent Disney movie dubbed into Japanese and pulled the tape out, flipping it over a few times in his hand before sliding it into the VCR. It had already been rewound; thankfully, so Chihiro turned the volume down low as well as put on subtitles for himself before he went to check on Seiko.

She was lying there calmly, not saying anything. Her eyes briefly flicked to him curiously as he took the filled basin away and set it on her nightstand.

He found her like that, having overturned her car into a ditch and vomiting heavily. Afraid and feeling in-debt, he literally pulled her out of the car and back to her house, where he had made an attempt to care for her. She was nice and a close friend of Daiya's, so he felt as though it was the least he could do.

Still, it was rough. Seiko was in no condition to see anyone else, and Chihiro's time ended up being split between her and the jail to keep an eye on the prisoners. She was a doctor, so a part of Chihiro foolishly wished she'd be better on her own, but she wasn't, she clearly wasn't.

After she had fallen asleep, he left the movie playing and headed back down to the police station; a bit of a walk and he was panting a bit when he arrived.

The goon who had died was still lying there in his cell, pale and flushed, his eyes sunken-in. Dried blood caked his mouth and around his eyes. Chihiro winced and pulled up his scarf further to cover up his nose and mouth and headed over to the other two prisoners, noticing the frightened expressions in their eyes.

"He's dead, chick! Are you just going to leave us in here to end up like him?" One demanded, shoving his hand through the bars and nearly grabbing Chihiro before he managed to take a few steps back. "Is this some sort of petty revenge scheme? Well, it ain't funny now! Just let us out!"

Chihiro very slowly shook his head.

"But he's sick now too! Do you want him to die just like our buddy did? Strangled for breath up to the very last second? You are some sick, sadistic bitch. Add that to your list, right after being dumb," He continued to jab at the mute boy, who continued to shake his head.

He could care for the one who was sick, but he'd have to do it later.

Chihiro very slowly returned back to the dead prisoner, his steps heavy on the floor. At first, he attempted to actually lift up the prisoner, an act that resulted in him falling flat on his butt and the goon falling on his side with a plop. He winced again in horror and swallowed sickly, very slowly standing up and grabbing the goon by the arm, dragging him right out of the station. If anyone was around to notice, they didn't bother him over it. Just as well, as Chihiro wasn't in any position to explain what he was doing. He found a small but spacious area under a set of stairs, and slowly, Chihiro laid him down there, covering him with a blanket he found on his cot.

After that, he headed to the diner to get some food for himself and the other two goons; maybe a bit for Seiko too if she had an appetite.

The diner was closed when he arrived, and he hesitated as he placed a hand on the door. Closed, and empty too, he could tell just by looking into the windows. After glancing around and thinking an apology to the owner, he raised up his foot and kicked in the glass door hard, running inside once the glass shattered. There truly was nobody inside. He shyly left a note at the front, explaining what had happened and why he was there.

He wasn't the best with cooking, but managed to cook up some burgers with pies and milk bottles. He carried the food back slowly; the trays he had placed the food on were unsteady and they nearly collapsed as he placed the food on the desk, making his eyes widen.

"I'm not going to eat that. You hear that, you dumb bitch? Oh, my mistake. I forgot you can't hear shit!" The goon angrily kicked at his bars. Chihiro ignored him again and slipped the food through the slot, doing the same for the sick goon. He then slowly opened the cell door of the sick man and held out a basin, placing it at his side and also putting a cold washcloth on his head.

The goon looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, and Chihiro balked when he realized the kid couldn't have been a few years older than Chihiro himself.

"Hey...chick...am I going to die...? Like Taro-kun did...?" He asked slowly, coughing heavily.

Chihiro tried to place a reassuring hand on his head, but the goon just shied away from it. He pursed his lips in frustration and left the cell, locking it again and going over to the desk in the room. His own food was left there, but he could only stomach a few bites. He looked through the open drawers and felt his eyes widen when his hand touched something cold and metal.

A gun. A shotgun. He pulled it out and eyed it wearily, turning it over in his hands. Was it loaded?

"You dumb bitch! Go to hell!" The goon threw his bottle of milk at the wall directly above Chihiro's head; it shattered loudly and sprayed the liquid on Chihiro's head. He hadn't been able to hear what happened, but he felt the liquid pour down his face and soak into his clothes; he could smell the sourness of that particular brand.

And then he begun to cry. Not very loudly, but in small, quiet, choking sobs that sounded more like hiccups and could've been confused for such if tears weren't streaming from his eyes. He didn't want to be there, he couldn't be there, when he was still young and terrified and unable to do certain things that were commonplace for others. He didn't even know how to drive; if he knew, he'd easily take the remaining goons and Miss Seiko too to a bigger hospital in the more populated part of the city. But he couldn't, so they were all stuck there.

Why him? Why did he have to be in that situation, of all people to be in it? He stared at the phone sitting on the desk inoffensively and pushed it off in a rage, tears flowing faster. He glanced back at the goons and picked up the food for Miss Seiko, tying the small gun to his waist and leaving them without a single glance back.

Seiko had managed to untie the bandages from around her wrists and was seemingly doing better; her features were no longer flushed or blood-shot and she had even managed to change her clothes. She looked up when Chihiro approached and started to speak, noticing the tray he carried. "Oh, is that...mine? For me...?"

Chihiro could only manage a nod and a placement of the food on the table before he broke out into sobs again, collapsing into Seiko.

She widened her eyes in surprise and started to gently rub his back, awkwardly looking away. He smelled of sour milk and sweat. Her eyes traveled to his waist, noticing the gun hanging there. Chihiro continued to sob and shake, trembling with such ferocity for a moment Seiko thought maybe he had come down with 'the crazies' himself.

Finally, he had managed to stop crying and composed himself, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?" Seiko questioned. "Oh, I made...food myself...I didn't think...you'd be back..." She treaded carefully, not wanting to make Chihiro cry again. He sniffled miserably and pulled out the notebook; still as full as it was when he first arrived to Osaka a few days ago.

_One of the prisoners died from the flu. Another is badly ill, and the third is fine but might catch it later. He is very angry with me and threw his milk bottle at me. The city is still. I had to break into a diner just to make this food. The prisoner who is sick, he's just a boy like me, he looked at me with scared eyes and I couldn't even reassure him that all would be fine! I can't drive, I need to find someone who can to take us all to the hospital in the main part of the city,_

He took a shuddering breath and simply stopped writing, a darkened expression appearing on his features. Seiko stood there calmly.

"The food...looks delicious..." She offered, gently lifting his chin up with her hand and mustering a sad, weak smile. "I can't wait...to eat..." She then motioned over to her bathroom. "A shower...will cheer you up..."

Chihiro nodded despite himself, leaving the notebook on the table and going into the bathroom. He peeled the clothes off and turned the shower on as hot as it would possibly go; burning his skin and filling the room with steam. He only noticed the condition when he tried to dry himself off later and winced at the pain of rubbing a fluffy towel against a sore surface.

He got dressed in a blue camisole, pleated blue miniskirt, white tights, a black ribbon around his wrist, and a silk pink scarf, noticing Seiko was nowhere to be seen. Having nothing else to do, he numbly began to eat; just shoving food into his mouth as he aimlessly watched TV. He sniffled again.

Barely anything was on aside from typical reruns, but nothing new was playing. Even the news reports seemed short, slow, and stunted; a basic weather forecast was shown, no sport or education updates, and even the information on the disease was just regurgitated 'drink your fluids and stay inside!' nonsense.

He found himself wondering why he hadn't gotten sick yet when it seemed almost everyone else had. He then found himself almost wishing he would get sick; sicken and die and finally leave this wretched world forever. It certainly wasn't kind to people like him, so what was the point of staying? Maybe if he remained in contact with more sick people, his time would come. Maybe he was already sick and just wasn't experiencing the symptoms yet! He did have a bit of a headache and sore throat, now that he thought about it.

When Chihiro finished eating, he placed a hand at the gun swinging from his hip and stared down at it strangely. He then went upstairs to see where Seiko had gone and balked upon seeing her collapsed in bed again, her features all flushed and breathing heavily. In a flash, he was by her side, holding the basin in front of her so she could begin retching.

After Seiko did so, Chihiro nervously unbuttoned the buttons on her checkered shirt and rolled her over onto her back, noticing some blood starting to trickle down from her mouth. He hesitated and put on another animated VHS for her, making sure the bandages were close at hand in case he needed to quickly restrain her again. He remained at her side for the remainder of the day, tending to her and helping her with whatever she needed.

"You're not...as useless as I thought...may I please have...some of those special candies that I made...? Just...for...me..." She spoke deliriously. He had no way of understanding what she meant, so he just unwrapped a cough drop and gently straddled her in bed, slipping the drop in inbetween her teeth. She sucked thoughtfully, almost blissfully. "Thank...you..."

A storm was starting to brew when Chihiro finally collapsed from exhaustion on the floor beside her bed several hours later.

**#####**

**The 'bleeding disease' was created by the Japanese government secretly! The reason is unknown, but many official sources have traced it back to a local lab somewhere near Yokohama. Or perhaps it was Hiroshima? Who really, truly, knows?**

**####**

**The disease has taken on many names, most notably 'the crazies' and 'Despair Disease'. A very strange sort of viral hemorrhagic fever; it manages to practically rewrite an entire host's personality and make them hallucinate traumatic events during their fever, making them resort to acts of violence.**

**####**

**Violence was all one could see on the TV now...for those who were actually well enough to watch it. People looting, rioting, murdering, kidnapping, torturing, raping. What had the great nation of Japan come to?**

**Ah well...who cares, right? As long as there's something to entertain me while I recover from that nasty flu I got.**

**Yeah, if that's all there is to watch...**

**A little bit of violence isn't so bad, right? I actually kinda like it. Those people know how to stand up for themselves!**

**####**

**Shinjuku; June 30th, 1994**

* * *

She was sent back home practically in a box after her whole squad perished from the crazies. Not like she cared, much. Shinjuku was her home and she was secretly glad to be back.

As she wandered the streets, she sensed a man about to come up behind her and molest her, likely trying to tug her into a dark alley to finish the job. She jabbed her elbow out and got him right in the stomach, knocking him down.

Shinjuku was far more of a dump than she recalled it being. There was a stirring in her chest. She walked forward.

**####**

**Shinjuku; June 30th, 1994**

* * *

Both of their parents were buried in their backyard. Kanon didn't want to bury them there, saying it just wasn't right, but Leon talked her into it, citing that there was really no other place to put them, and they couldn't just leave them to rot. Finally, Kanon came around, and they had been out on their own for the past few days.

The two of them sat on a bench in one of the fashion districts, the city absolutely calm and still around them. Garbage littered the streets, and stores were broken-into with shattered windows and looted displays. Buses and bicycles rested in the streets, emptied of people. They saw a thin cat wander past an hour or so ago, but other than that, no other life-forms other than themselves.

"Where do we go now?" Kanon asked slowly, her voice bouncing off the empty streets. Their hands touched on the bench; Leon made no attempt to move away like he would've before. "What do we do now?"

"I say we can go anywhere we want, do whatever we want. Who is going to stop us?" He tried to offer her his signature smirk, but it felt empty and forced. She wasn't even looking at him, instead staring straight ahead.

"I might be a burden. I'm sick too, I got that crazy thing they had. Whatever they called it. Oh, that is such bogus. It's going to kill me, and I'm only twenty-two! Barely an adult!"

Leon remained silent. What could he even say to that? Kanon was right; on the very slim chance she survived, her mental state would still be ruined forever.

Kanon filled in the silence by suddenly hacking loudly, shuddering in her seat and leaning over enough to vomit blood on the dirty sidewalk; it had bubbles in it. Somehow, none of it landed on her. She leaned back in her seat and coughed again.

"I'm hungry," She announced after a time. "Are you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I could eat," Leon nodded, standing up. Kanon trailed after him, kicking her heels up. "Anything but eggs though,"

"Agreed," They both winced inwardly at that statement before they came across a tiny roadside stand next to a train station that used to sell ramen. Kanon leaned against the counter as she watched Leon stretch out the noodles and put eggs, broth, and onions into the mix before stirring it all up. When it was done, they walked among the length of the city again, holding hands, sipping their bowls.

"How ironic. This is almost kinda like a date. How stupid, my first real date with you and it's at the end of the world," Kanon laughed bitterly.

"Let's go down to the baseball stadium and eat there. We can ransack the place and just practice, you and I," He suggested, and for the first time in nearly a week, her eyes lit up.

"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot,"

**####**

**Nagoya; June 30th, 1994**

* * *

Pregnant women always had the strangest cravings. Sayaka mused that thought to herself as she stood in the kitchen, finishing up making herself some strawberry shortcake and French fries. She had a sudden thought about how much she missed the simplicity and ease of fast food; neither Mc'Donald's nor MOS Burger was open as far as she could see, so she knew she'd have to place matters into her own hands.

She poured the hot fries onto the plate and waved her hand around slightly in the hopes it'd cool faster; she was already drooling before catching herself. She placed the fries on the table alongside the shortcake and walked over to the small shrine next to the door. Three pictures hanged there now, and she started to burn three separate sticks of incense when there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Come in," She placed the first stick in front of Sachiko's picture. If someone wanted to rob her, they wouldn't have even knocked. They'd just burst right in, like in the news articles she read often while in the hospital keeping an eye on her sick father. Violence was everywhere in the news, it seemed, and nobody could escape it. Many had embraced it.

"Oh, Sayaka-sama! What a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting to see you here! By that, I mean, I thought you would've moved on by now. Something smells delicious, are you cooking?" Hifumi's voice came at Sayaka in a rush, and she could do nothing but stare ahead at him, blinking.

"Why would I leave? Where would I go? This is my house," She responded in a simple tone, lighting the second stick of incense and placing it next to her mother's portrait.

"Well, I just heard that some people are moving south. Speaking of survivors and such. Oh, that's a pretty novel idea, huh? You think maybe we should follow their example?"

Hifumi was a familiar face to Sayaka for all the wrong reasons. She was friends with his older sister in middle-school, and part of high-school before Sayaka tested out of the district and started attending another school. Hifumi had met her along the way and developed a sort of crush on her, which Sayaka didn't like one bit. Hifumi was the type of guy who was so stereotypically nerdy you didn't believe he actually existed until you met him. He wrote fanfiction for crying out loud!

"My food is getting cold," Sayaka finished lighting the third stick, placing it next to her father's portrait before standing up and wiping her hands down on her skirt. "And you should head back home too. Aren't your parents...?" She trailed off when she caught his expression.

"I'm afraid I'm the only living member of the Yamada family. But I can carry on their legacy! This is exactly what I was born for!" He posed. "Carrying on the amazing legacy of my family!"

Sayaka took a peek outside and felt her eyes widen when she beheld the loud red car with orange flames painted onto it, parked right in the driveway. She suppressed the urge to stick her tongue out at it.

"That's-"

"It sure is! Now, you may think it's cruel of me, Sayaka-sama, to steal another man's car, but think of it this way! He isn't going to be needing it anymore, and if you ever decide to come with me, well, a lady needs a proper chariot, right?" He posed with his hands on his hips.

"My food is getting cold. Say, why don't you clean out your house more? Your older sister said it was looking pretty bad a few weeks ago," Sayaka suggested with a sweet smile on her face.

"Good idea, Sayaka-sama! We'll need supplies for our trek southward!" He gave her a wave and dashed off as fast as his stubby legs could take him. Sayaka closed the door with a slight eyeroll.

She didn't really hate Hifumi, per say, she was just extremely annoyed by him.

She ate her cold food quietly, watching TV. Almost all of the channels were down, but she managed to find some reality shows airing on the public broadcast networks. This particular show featured a teenage boy holding his entire class hostage at gun point, asking them all sorts of rhetorical questions about hope, despair, life, and death. He ended up shooting their teacher in a bloody display and severely injured another female classmate. When the police arrived, he fired the gun on himself and threw himself out a window. It was very ghastly, but surely fake, right?

Then again, the scenes on television had been so violent lately that Sayaka genuinely couldn't tell the difference anymore. The female student cried hopelessly as the camera zoomed in on her open, bleeding wound. Sayaka continued eating her food calmly.

Afterwards, she cleaned up and fell asleep on the couch for a nap, thrashing about in her sleep.

"Such a pretty girl, such a pretty shame inside! How about I take care of that for you?" A female voice mocked in a pretty tone, holding out a scalpel. Sayaka clutched her swollen stomach in fear and took off running; soaked rice patties clumping at her feet. She started to slow, hearing that girl's maniacal laughter behind her. "I can take care of that for you, free of charge of course! I'm a very generous individual, I'll have you know!"

The girl with the bear in her hair. The name on Sayaka's lips when she woke up in a fright, sweating and panting. She had no idea how she even knew that name, she certainly hadn't ever heard it before, but it seemed perfect, somehow.

**####**

**Yokohama Disease Research Facility; June 30th, 1994**

* * *

They took away his television that day. Well, Makoto supposed it was just as well. He didn't even put up a fight when two suited-up male nurses arrived and unhooked it from the wall, carrying it carefully in their arms. It showed him nothing but repeated news anyway. Most of his time was spent looking out the window, marveling at a large fire that was set to some shopping mall nearby that soon got choked out by the parking lot. What would it have been like if it had kept burning? He suspected nobody would put it out.

The thing he did mind were the increasingly hostile confrontations by Kyosuke himself, as the white-haired man never walked into Makoto's room now without both a knife and a gun attached to his belt, and Makoto somehow suspected he also had a taser hidden somewhere too.

Makoto was many things, but he wasn't entirely dumb. Given enough time, he could solve his way out of a difficult situation. He knew the only reason Kyosuke was so agitated was because their research failed. They couldn't contain the disease properly; people still sickened and died, and worst of all, no vaccine was developed. Even worse, Makoto himself was entirely immune to the Despair Disease and they couldn't find out why. Even Makoto had been assuming for a while now that he must've been immune, how else to explain why he was still perfectly fine when everyone else had been dropping dead around him?

Kyosuke walked into his room today, still decked-out in that bright orange haz-mat suit. He carried the colourings of a man with a high fever, as well as some red rashes around his cheeks, neck, and chest, from what little bit Makoto could make out.

"How are you doing?" He asked briskly, standing near the door and making no other moves over to Makoto.

"Good...but...a bit bored. When do you think I can be allowed out of here?" Once again, he flashed the least-intimidating smile he could think of, but it felt strained on his face today. Kyosuke took a moment to start coughing hard, wiping away the blood on his lips.

"Not yet. You know that we have had this conversation already multiple times," He held his hands behind his back. "You haven't mentioned it in a while though,"

Makoto shrugged. "I've had...other things on my mind," He admitted, laughing awkwardly.

"I don't mind that. You've been quiet, not putting up much of a fuss. Other people we studied made lots of noise about it, but you were always the one that cooperated the most," Makoto became aware of a sudden clicking noise. "I am almost sorry to have to put you down like this. Almost,"

He caught the shine of the gun as Kyosuke started to pull it out from behind his back, and froze, looking around the room desperately. "Um, oh no! A rat! Oh, it's so gross! What kind of a place are you running here, huh?" He demanded, already jumping out of bed the moment Kyosuke turned to look. At a later date, he'd remember the surprise he felt that such a juvenile trick had actually managed to work, but not at that moment, because his adrenaline was pushing through his veins far too fast.

"Come back here!" He heard Kyosuke call after him as he ran, a bullet ricocheting off the wall next to him. He paused in his tracks and glanced around, finding himself next to an empty examination room. "Come back!" Makoto dragged out one of the chairs and held it above his head, slamming it into Kyosuke and forcing him down to the ground when he had arrived.

"Sorry about that," He whispered before taking the gun and darting off again, taking another hallway.

Where was the exit? It had to be around there somewhere. Sure, the building was large, but he couldn't have been any higher than the second or third floor, right? His heart hammered loudly in his ears, and he could just feel his blood being pumped through his veins at a break-neck speed. He panted, struggling to catch his breath as he disappeared down another hallway, coming across a small office that he assumed had been Kyosuke's.

Inside a closed drawer were files of other doctors, such as a Miss Seiko Kimura, taking a leave in Osaka. He carefully placed those back and shut the drawer, not needing to go through those. He found a sealed-off closet and pulled it open, shuddering when his hands ran across his backpack and his clothes. That dark black jacket and matching jeans with a plain white shirt...he arrived at the facility in those very clothes. With his luck, if he had gotten sick, they'd have cremated him in them. Or maybe just thrown in a ditch somewhere. If the anarchy was really as bad as he was hearing it was, maybe they didn't even cremate bodies anymore.

He carefully finished tying his shoes and shrugged the backpack onto his shoulders, walking out of the office and taking silent steps down the remainder of the hallway. He covered his mouth in disgust, smelling weeks-old blood and vomit congealing together; he tensed-up as he suddenly recalled that silver-haired woman in the passenger seat of the car, smelling just like that.

A nurse had collapsed dead next to the elevators, dried blood caked onto her clothes and her eyes sunken-in. Makoto briefly panicked, wondering if she had encountered a booby-trap before he forced himself to shake his head to calm him down.

"Even if it _was_ a trap, I doubt it'd give her the same signs of the illness!" He spoke out-loud to himself, laughing awkwardly. His voice echoed off the empty, silent walls, making it sound louder than it was. He tried to laugh again to make himself feel better, but ended up just shivering.

He hurriedly got into the elevator and pressed one of the buttons for the lower floor, sighing in relief when he saw the doors close easily and the smooth movements of the elevator. No music played, but he realized he'd find it spookier if music was playing.

Downstairs was mainly more offices and a waiting room, which Makoto paid no mind to. More dead people collapsed in the halls, and he felt his heart hurt for them. If he had the time, he'd go back to every single one and prop them up more comfortably; close their eyes, adjust their clothes, and cover them up. But he didn't have the time for that, so he just kept a move-on, trying to avert his eyes from the dead.

"Hey...is someone there...?" A sickly voice called out, and Makoto paused and glanced around, finding the voice to belong to a sickly-looking doctor, collapsed on top of his desk in his office. "Oh,...you're not...the head doctor...but...that barely matters now," He vomited up a mixture of blood and bile. "Hey...you got a gun on you..."

Makoto's hands flew to it reflexively, still staring at the man. "Are you alright?" He asked instead.

"No. Hey, you were always a kind person, right? Prove that to me right now...kill me...I'm going to die soon anyway, why not speed it up...?" He tried to offer Makoto a reassuring chuckle, but it sounded more like a choke.

His hands very slowly headed for the gun, but at the last second, he paused, and shook his head.

"I...I'm sorry. I...I just can't." He bowed deeply in apology, going into the man's office. "I'm truly sorry," He found a blanket in the man's closet and gently covered him up with it, nodding before going on his way.

He saw the two white doors that marked an entrance and his spirits lifted as he quickened his pace. Finally, he was getting out of this place and out into the world! He would be able to find out what happened, meet up with other people-!

"You're not getting away so easily!" Kyosuke grumbled, tightly grabbing onto Makoto's leg. His haz-mat mask was missing, and Makoto realized in horror that he must've been delirious from fever. "I still have my knife and my taser. You cannot escape!"

Makoto let out a loud scream beside himself, struggling and thrashing around desperately to get out of his grip. His face was yellowish and sunken-in.

"N-No!" Makoto cried out, taking the gun from his hip and aiming it right at Kyosuke.

"You won't be able to shoot me. You're far too kind and soft. You won't. You won't at all." He smirked, an expression absolutely foreign on his face. Makoto continued to aim the gun at Kyosuke, trembling wildly."You know, everyone in your community is dead. Every single member of your family is dead. Nobody else is alive here aside from you and me,"

His thoughts suddenly turned to the sick doctor he encountered just a few minutes prior in his office, begging to be shot. Makoto closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger, wincing at how loud the shot was.

Kyosuke fell at an angle, crumbling up at Makoto's feet. He very slowly slipped his leg out of the dead doctor's grip, breathing heavily. Blood trickled from his forehead, and Makoto wondered if it truly was the shot that killed him or if his body had just decided to give up forever. Still shaking, he slid the gun back into his pocket and took one final look at the surroundings, pushing open the doors.

The cool night air hit his face as soon as he stepped outside, and Makoto smiled widely, feeling suddenly giddy. The moonlight poured on him, and he eagerly drank it all up, holding out his arms and letting it just shine on his face. The night air smelled crisp and fresh too, like a sweet drink of dew. Insects buzzed quietly in the night, and Makoto just spent the next few minutes running up and down the empty parking lot, whooping and cheering. He had never felt so exhilarated in his entire life!

Once he managed to settle down, he took a deep breath as he recalled what Kyosuke told him right before he died. That not only his whole family had died, but his entire community as well. The particular town he lived in was small, but surely someone else from Yokohama had to still be alive, right? It was such a huge city, there was just simply no way they could all be dead!

He noticed something painted haphazardly on the side of the building and curiously looked it over, his blood running cold when he made-out the three characters of kanji:

**EVERYONE DEAD.**

**GO HOME.**

He suppressed a shudder and gripped the straps of his backpack, telling himself to just remain positive. Surely there were other survivors scattered about in Japan, if not in Yokohama, then other places! Japan was a large nation, after all. And if he met any, they'd likely need his help getting back on their feet!

Yes, that was exactly what he would do.

Yokohama was still. A few wind chimes twinkled idly, not having a strong enough wind to blow. A shishi-odoshi loudly cracked against a rock, starting to silently fill with water again. A low TV rambled on from somewhere, being muffled. Makoto slowly walked up the steps to his old house's porch-it felt so strange admitting that to himself now, that he used to have a house, where he lived with his family, where he got ready for school, like a normal teenage boy would-noticing the shattered Veranda and broken-in windows.

Somehow, he just knew there wouldn't be any looters inside the house itself, waiting to jump him. Any that had been there were long ago, either died from the Despair Disease or just moved along to better places.

The house was dark and smelled dank; of old mold and dust. He wrinkled his nose and kept walking. His sneakers sounded heavy and hollow on the floor. He knew it was a social transgression, but it was his old, empty house, nobody lived there anymore, and who would even be around to care anymore?

He knew exactly where it was he needed to go, and went there, to that tiny bookshelf placed neatly in the corner of his father's office. Most of the books had been thrown off the shelves and stolen, but he wasn't there for the books.

Tucked right into the corner behind an encyclopedia, was a large framed picture of his family from a year or so ago. He picked it up and smiled, taking in his parents' happy but formal faces, Komaru looking a bit uncomfortable on the block she had to sit on, and of course himself, sitting beside his sister with a nervous but polite expression on his face.

Suddenly, he noticed his vision swim and hurriedly tucked the picture back into his backpack, sniffling and running straight from the house. He wasn't sick; he was just crying. Crying hard. He noticed a tree and collapsed against it, crying as loudly as he cared to.

His whole family was dead, all because of some Despair Disease virus. What else was left for him in the world? He hadn't even been able to share their last moments, hadn't been able to see their bodies, hadn't been able to properly cremate them, or, barring that, even bury them the way they wanted..

Makoto cried for what seemed like several hours, and he had cried until every single tear was gone. His nose wouldn't stop running, his throat felt sore and raw, and his eyes were red and they hurt fiercely. He sat on the ground for a few more minutes, just recomposing himself, sniffling before he stood up and rubbed at his nose.

The picture still carefully wrapped in some clothes in his backpack, he set off once again, thinking of both that dead Mrs. Kirigiri woman and those strangely pleasant dreams of a rice field.

**####**

**A Prison in Tokyo; June 30th; 1994**

* * *

There was already quite a bit of food saved up underneath the scratchy blanket in his cell. For some reason, the steady stream of meals had just randomly ceased two days ago, and Hajime was never given any explanation for it. Panicked, he starting hoarding, eating just enough to prevent him from passing out. That day, he had only eaten a slice of ham and hid the remainder of the sandwich.

He sat in his cell now, curled up in a ball, his eyes dull and a vacant expression on his face. It had been silent for the past two days as well, and Hajime wasn't sure if he actually liked that. What had happened? Prisons weren't normally this quiet, were they? A sudden bang nearby got his attention, but he could only briefly lift his head up before the dizziness nearly made him fall over and he leaned against the wall again, taking shallow breaths. He wasn't sick at all, just extremely hungry. Where were those guards? They may be prisoners, but they couldn't just leave them alone to starve, could they?

Damn that stupid yakuza princess and her gorgeous looks; it was all her fault he had gotten into this mess in the first place. Where even was she? Surely word must've reached her and her brother by that point that Hajime had been dead and their cousin's friend was dead, and they'd arrive to finish him off as payment. Or maybe they'd approve and set him free, having passed some sort of unknown test.

A rat scurried past his foot and Hajime stared at it vacantly, wondering how it was able to survive and he couldn't. Maybe it was surviving on some garbage outside. He bit his lip in disgust when he realized that was actually starting to sound good to his food-depraved mind. He took another look at the rat and started to reach out for it, only to shudder in disgust and huddle back into the corner again.

He would never, ever, eat a rat. Never.

**####**

**Osaka; July 1st, 1994**

* * *

Seiko had managed to make a full recovery despite the odds, and was currently bustling around her house dressed all in black, happily cleaning up things that were neglected during her illness. Chihiro watched her uneasily, wearing a black transparent slip gown with a floor-length black pleated skirt with it all on top of a brown leather jacket. He hadn't gotten sick at all, hadn't even felt a tad under the weather, and what did he have to show for it? A declined invitation to go with him.

She was sitting in bed when he had come to visit her that morning, actively engaging with the movie she was watching. Surprised, he indicated if she was feeling well, and she answered happily that she was and that he had been a wonderful caretaker. She would forever be in his debt as a result, much like she had been with Daiya.

_Come with me._ He wrote out to her once she had gotten dressed and presentable. _I have to leave this town, but I want to take a survivor with me. Please come._

She read the note for a long time before shaking her head. "Chihiro-san. I am forever...in your debt. But...I am a doctor. I was stationed here...these people...need someone to bury them...burn them...there might also be other sick ones...I'm needed here to keep everything running..."

His face fell and he fell onto his knees. _Please? I'm all but begging you. I don't want to be this way, but...please. I need allies._

"There will likely be...other survivors. They can help you," And then she turned around and started to do her dishes.

Having nowhere else to go, and not wanting to spend more time than needed with Seiko and intrude, Chihiro headed back to the police station and remained there for the better part of the evening, getting engrossed in a trashy romance novel about a girl in the 1950's who fell in love with a fisherman. He continued to read until the lights suddenly went out around sunset, making him glance up.

He anxiously rummaged through the drawers, pushing away anything that didn't feel like a flashlight. Pouting and sitting back in response, he eventually stood up and looked in the storage closet, coming across a box of candles. He knew Daiya kept a lighter in his office drawers, but the thought of lighting candles and then accidentally knocking one over made him shudder. He had no other choice though, so he carried the box over to the desk and set it down, pulling out almost every candle in the box and setting them up straight around the desk, flicking the match a few times to make sure it still worked before he started lighting the candles.

The candles flickered lightly in the breeze but didn't go out, and Chihiro gently placed the match back on the table and just stood there, trying not to shiver. The limited light made all of the shadows around him grow and surround him, like a forest of dark, angry, skeletal trees. He suddenly realized the ironic image of him decked out in all black, frantically lighting candles in the dark and choked back a sudden laugh. Where did his book go? He needed to put it away and prepare for bed. The gun was still secured around his waist, always.

As Chihiro looked around aimlessly for his book, he wasn't aware of Kokichi staring him down from the shadows, dressed in a grey imitation of his usual jersey. He just stood there, watching, paying special attention to the gun tucked on the boy's hip. Who did this chick think she was? She could just waltz into town, and instead of getting in trouble, she got cozy with the sheriff, tossed his friends into jail, and now that everyone is dead, she got to strut around as if she owned the place? No way. Kokichi liked to think of himself as a fair guy, when the playing was fair. But this girl wasn't playing fair at all. Besides, it'd be doing her a bit of a mercy. She would likely die from whatever illness everyone else had seemingly perished from, so he wasn't really the bad guy in this scenario.

He stepped up behind her; an easy feat since they were around the same height, reached his hands out, and grabbed roughly onto her neck, making her eyes widen and she started to thrash around in terror. She whipped her head back around and opened her mouth in shock when she recognized him in the light. He held a finger to his mouth before dissolving into a coughing fit, coughing up blood.

"Can you cry out now? Can you scream now?" Kokichi teased, knowing Chihiro had no way of understanding him.

Chihiro continued to thrash around in a panic, knowing he wouldn't be much of a match for Kokichi despite their similar sizes. He took several gasping, desperate breaths before his combat boot found Kokichi's sneaker and he stomped down hard on it, getting shoved into the desk. The candles wobbled and one went out, crashing to the floor and shattering.

"I'll give you something to remember me by...just before I tie you to the traintracks! Wouldn't that be fun? Won't that be something? A deaf girl like you, getting hit by the train because you couldn't hear it!" He laughed crazily before coughing up more blood. "The crime for the ages!"

Terrified, Chihiro tried to crawl away before Kokichi caught up with him, grabbing him by the hair and tossing him against the desk again. He winced in pain as he hit it hard, moaning. In a brief moment of clarity, he recalled the gun still around his hip and made a desperate grab for it, crying when it remained stuck and wouldn't come out.

"Shoot me, huh? Go on ahead then, shoot me," He smugly grinned, a finger on his lips again.

Chihiro continued to reach for the gun, squeezing the trigger too soon and making it fire into the wall loudly, forming a hole. Neither men jumped at the sound; Chihiro couldn't hear it and Kokichi was too far gone. Another shot that barely grazed Chihiro's leg, ripping up part of the skirt and drawing blood. In a flash, he had jumped onto Chihiro again and clawed at his eyes, scratching up part of his right before the gun went off again, shooting him right in the chest. He started to sob from the fear and pain, watching Kokichi simply slump over onto the floor, his eyes open in shock. The blood poured from his chest.

He tossed the gun down onto the floor and sat there wearily, breathing heavily with blood dripping from his burning leg and tears flowing from both of his eyes. Kokichi remained there on the floor, dead. A strangled sort of laugh-sob caught in his throat as he looked over what he did, what had happened. He crawled into the small bathroom and pulled himself up and glanced in the mirror, noticing his eye had scratch marks around it and was swollen and nearly sealed-shut. He somehow had the idea it wouldn't heal. His leg burned badly and he shifted his weight onto his left, trying to ease it. His stomach churned violently and he rushed over to the toilet, throwing up heavily for the next few minutes.

Once he finished, he limped back into the room and stared down at Kokichi's dead body, feeling a sort of anger bubble up to the surface. He gave the body a great kick to vent it, glaring.

_You ruined my life. You and your friends jumped me, mugged me, left me for dead, broke some of my teeth, and then you take half of my sight. Are you satisfied? You're no better than the people who bullied me into literal submission,_

He felt tired and sick still, sick from everything that had transpired and limped over to the small cot in the room, collapsing into it immediately. He fell asleep just as quickly, shivering slightly.

**####**

**Aomori; July 1st, 1994**

* * *

Life had been good ever since Nagito Komaeda had managed to escape from his elite private school. Well, actually, through a stroke of bizarre luck, it had caught on fire. But Nagito didn't really think that whole 'going to school' thing was his jam, at least not in that way. He could learn, he didn't even mind learning in fact, he just found living his life however he wanted was far more fulfilling.

For the past few weeks, he had been trying to hide out in another school, a smaller school, hearing reports of a strange illness. He wasn't hiding from it though; no, not at all, he was trying to infect himself in the hopes he'd finally kick the bucket once and for all and be rid of himself. However, it didn't happen that way. Everyone else at the boarding school sickened and died, often offing each other or themselves, but Nagito remained perfectly healthy.

Well, it was no matter. He was on his own now, the way he would always admit that he liked. He wore his favourite jacket that he had had since his second year of middle school; a green one with geometric patterns on it. Around his neck was a black gas mask designed to protect himself from his current obsession; he wanted to die, but it'd be a waste if he injured himself and had no way to get healed!

He walked along the length of the street, a rusty metal divider set up to prevent turning cars from turning over and falling into the river below. The street was empty, but Nagito paid no mind to that. He was used to seeing empty streets for the past few days, everyone had died and there was nobody else around to drive any sort of vehicle. Nagito briefly considered taking an empty car for himself back when he was still in Sapporo, but decided against it, having a feeling it'd find some way to overturn itself in a ditch. So walking it was.

After he glanced around, he sped down the street and stopped once he came to a small bridge, walking over to the edge of it. He breathed anxiously as he slipped off his brown backpack and pulled the hood of his jacket on, slipping the mask on over his face before he pulled a bomb out of the bag, hooking it up to the underside of the bridge. It was a special bomb he had rigged himself to not only explode, but spray the area in a poisonous gas that'd render anyone who breathed it in immobile and unconscious for several hours. It was a trick he learned from an old friend who used to live on the streets with him after he lost his parents in a plane crash; she wanted to be a pharmacist and taught him all sorts of cool tricks like that.

He briefly wondered what had become of her as he finished rigging the bomb up to explode in a few minutes. Did she ever survive the sickness? Oh, likely not. She was talented, but frail and sickly. It was an absolute wonder that he himself was somehow rendered immune to it. The bomb began to tick and he smiled to himself, slipping his backpack back on and darting off, running as fast as he could possibly master. Would he outrun the bomb or not? Even if he did, that bridge would be rendered destroyed for the rest of time itself. Nobody would come and fix that bridge.

Now his thoughts were all of that future pharmacist girl and his life before. His life before his parents died; everything had been quite relatively normal. He had no other siblings, but he did have a dog. A fairly normal life. Then his parents went on that airplane; everyone perished in the crash except for him. The officials were baffled by his survival, deeming him some sort of miracle child because even his seat-belt had been torn in the chaos.

The will took far too much time to settle, and nobody wanted to bother with him due to his ungodly levels of tragedy, so he remained on his own on the streets for a while alongside that pharmacist girl. They played together for a year or so until she moved onto Osaka and became close with the sheriff's son, while he moved onto Sapporo and lived all by himself in a large manor. He wasn't really sure when his brain had turned to jelly; maybe it was living with cancer for the better part of a decade. Or maybe it was the lack of any sort of influence in his life, good or bad. Or maybe he was just hardwired that way and it was only a matter of time before he snapped.

The bridge exploded several paces behind him and he firmly planted his feet on the ground, holding his arms out and slowly bringing them close to his figure, hugging himself tightly. He had missed the explosion this time, but he could definitely see it the next time. And the next time. And the next time.

He literally had all of the time in the world now to set off as many explosions as he wanted! All in the name of hope, of course. The more he destroyed, the more work the survivors would have, and what could be more hopeful than watching people repair a broken, despairful world?

**#####**

**Shinjuku; July 2nd, 1994**

* * *

All night, the lights in Shinjuku had remained on, but Leon knew it wouldn't be long before they all begun to shut down. Just by looking out across the balcony, he could see dark pockets of other parts of the city. He wondered if other parts of Japan still had power, or if Shinjuku was the last one. It'd be ironic in a way, but also make sense. That morning, him and Kanon stole a flashy sports car and drove around in dizzying circles, going as fast as a racer. At one point, Kanon jumped up through the sun-roof and stuck her hands up, cheering. They continued to spun around until they both felt decidedly nauseous and stopped, ditching the car in the middle of the road.

It was time for breakfast, and the two headed inside an old diner and cooked up breakfast for themselves, making scrambled eggs with bacon and orange juice. They kept the doors closed and hid behind the counter in the kitchen, eating slowly. If they sat closer to the front, the smell of the summery city would overwhelm them. Even now, back there, Leon could smell part of it and it made him sick.

"Let's leave," Kanon announced, shoving some cheesy eggs into her mouth. "Let's just leave this place forever,"

He stared at her, waiting for more.

"There might be other survivors, and besides, what else is there for us here? We can't even go home, Big Brother. We're likely one of the only people left alive in the city with some semblance of self," Kanon coughed hard, spewing blood onto the pavement. "And I'm dying. It's so bogus, but I am. When I die, I don't want to die here in Shinjuku. I want to die someplace pretty, in a field or something,"

Leon nodded in understanding. Never in his wildest dreams would he ever find himself actually _agreeing_ with Kanon, but she was right this time. They had to get going, there was nothing left for them in Shinjuku anymore.

Even their past few days was spent in some sort of blissful ignorance about their current situation. They lived the true rock-star life, pretending Leon had finally made it big and Kanon was his groupie. They stole cars, broke into buildings, destroyed property, and at one point even considered doing drugs before Leon eventually decided against it at the last second, saying a lifelong addiction was not something they needed at the moment. They still managed to smoke cigarettes, spending the night in a desecrated hotel. They threw the 'No Smoking' sign into the garbage and smoked beside it.

After they finished eating, they took each other's hands and hurried down the street, covering their mouths and noses to shield themselves from the smell of the decayed bodies and garbage left to rot everywhere in the early-July sun. Kanon started to look green after a while, and after they passed a few houses, she raced right into an unlocked one and began to throw up in their bathroom violently, choking on it several times.

Leon stood in the doorway, watching her in disgust. She didn't let up, collapsing in front of the toilet after she finished. Her legs were splayed out around her and she panted, her breasts heaving. He had seen those breasts unclothed quite a few times; they hadn't actually done that, but they had reveled in watching each other get off simultaneously. Who was around to tell them no?

"I'm better now. I'm fine," She gave Leon a lovely smile, though it was weak. She flushed the toilet and stood up, walking out of the bathroom. "If we go, where should we go? Where do we go? Survivors could be anywhere,"

"The other wards, maybe? Or we could go even further north to Sendai or Aomori. West, there's Nagoya and Osaka, but they might be long gone by now in terms of having survivors or anything useful," Leon thought about it. "But I think we should just start walking and only stop when we find other people like us,"

Kanon nodded, coughing weakly.

"We'll need supplies first though," He walked ahead of her, and as expected, she followed right behind him like a lost puppy. She reminded him of one of the yellow kittens he saw the other day, wandering away from its mother's gaze.

And so they got supplies, breaking into an outfitter store and getting backpacks for themselves; Leon's was a stark black while Kanon's was a sparkly pink one, much to his surprise. When he looked at her, wanting to question it, she just shrugged and quickly said it was all they had left. They packed it with clothes and food, as well as a gun. Kanon stared curiously at that and slowly slipped her own gun into a bag as well.

They held hands and started to walk through the city, heading for one of the train tunnels. Everything was still around them, as usual, aside from the cawing of birds above them. The two passed a large empty block of wall and Kanon paused for a second, rummaging through her bag. Leon stared at her curiously.

She pulled out a purple can of spray paint and shook it vigorously before aiming it at the wall, pressing down on the nozzle and spraying it around. Her strokes were careful but loopy, making the resulting characters resemble roller-coaster tracks. When she was finished, she stepped back and admired her handiwork.

**WE ARE SO DITCHING THIS DUMP! HIT US UP! FUCK YEAH!**

"Just a little message for anyone who decides to follow our steps," She smiled at Leon, who took the spray bottle from her and quickly wrote down his own message before handing it back to her.

**HEADING NORTH OR WEST. GO TO A BIG CITY!**

Once a teen guy around Kanon's age, a bit younger, arrived and asked Leon how much for her and how long he'd be willing to pay, but one flash of the gun sent him running. Kanon gave him lovesick eyes in response, clasping her hands together. She coughed violently, her body trembling.

"I wonder what our parents would think of this, the two of us, escaping together, leaving them," Kanon blew some smoke out of her mouth as they rested against a cluttered bridge.

"Mom would probably grab me by the ear," Leon sighed a bit, looking up at the sun, sinking lower into the horizon. "She always said I was too impulsive just like Pop was, never thinking about the future. Only about the now,"

She took another drag from her cigarette. "We didn't even look for valuables,"

"Don't think there'd be much in our house anyway. We hadn't been back there in days, looters probably stole everything," He looked over at her and noticed how the sunset brought out her dyed golden hair. "And I think anyone we'd be able to trade with is dead,"

She finished smoking after a few more minutes, throwing the butt onto the ground and stomping it out with her boot. "Let's keep going,"

Leon nodded and jumped off the bridge, landing on his feet and walking ahead of her. They managed to make good progress until Kanon tripped over a hole in the road, falling over with a cry.

"Kanon-chan!" He ran over to her, finding her crumbled up.

"My leg...no, I think it's my ankle! It's broken!" She cried. "I didn't bring any first-aid stuff,"

He yanked her out of the way and dragged her to the side of the road, giving her a dirty look for her attire.

"Thigh-high stiletto heels?! Are you fuckin' kiddin' me, Kanon-chan!?" He suddenly snapped at her. She winced but still glared back.

"I wanted to look pretty!"

"You can't traverse through a destroyed city in heels unless you're a video-game character! Oh my God, why would you do something like this? And not even pack first-aid?"

"I though you would have it," She answered innocently, swaying as she finally stood up. She fell into Leon's chest and blushed.

"You are impossible to deal with, Kanon-chan. I hope you realize that," He started to walk off without her, shrugging when he didn't hear the soft clack of those shoes on the pavement behind him. He continued to walk, not even looking back. He actually wanted to make good progress this time, and Kanon could either suck it up and follow after him, or stay there and nurse her bruised ego.

He soon reached the entryway of the train station, knowing if they walked the length of the tracks, they'd exit Shinuku and end up in Shibuya, likely. Then they'd continue to travel northward. He took a deep breath to both try and calm down and compose himself for what laid ahead, then stepped into the dark tunnel, letting his eyes adjust.

Leon didn't bring a flashlight; it never crossed his mind at the time, but he vaguely remembered seeing Kanon stuff one into her bag. Just fucking perfect. Well, too late for that now. He had a lighter from his cigarettes and he supposed that'd have to do. He walked ahead further and covered his mouth, pulling the lighter out of his pocket and flicking it open, taking a glance around.

The Shinjuku terminal was considered to be one of the largest and most sophisticated stations in the eastern portion of Japan, outranking even Tokyo's own station. It was recently remodeled a year or so ago, even, adding in sleeker tracks alongside a entertainment area filled with arcade machines and a restaurant.

Looking at it now, it was barely recognizable. The darkened shadow of a stopped train was on his left side, while on his right were large groups of dead bodies, all clumped together. He swallowed and turned the lighter off, clutching it tightly as he started to walk through.

The station wasn't too big if you were one of the lucky few to catch a train during a slow period; it never seemed that big when you were on your own simply because it wasn't that large. Five floors and a basement, but Leon knew he'd stay on the first floor. He had no need, or want, to see the rest. He pulled the lighter out again and flicked it on, letting out a loud but strangled scream as his foot suddenly tread on something that was way too squishy. He briefly looked down and beheld the sight of a sick conductor, judging by the uniform, his features sunken-in and dried blood caked on his mouth, uniform, nose, and eyes. The sun hadn't gotten to him yet like it had the bodies out in the sun, and Leon started to gag as he thought of them; reeking like month-old spoiled milk, left to curdle out in the hot summer sun for eons.

He started at the sound of heavy footsteps and tensed up, widely glancing around with the lighter, swearing when it started to grow too hot and burned his fingers. His fingers tightly clutched around the lighter; sweating from the heat and effort to hold on.

"Who are you?" He called out. He highly doubted it was some criminal, they would've jumped him by now, wouldn't they? "Who are you?" He thrust the lighter out further, his voice echoing and bouncing off the empty tunnels.

"Are you going to shoot me?" Kanon's high-pitched voice came out at him; though it was still a few seconds before he actually saw her, limping dangerously on her broken ankle. "If so, then do it," She then collapsed to the ground, puking up blood before sighing. "I don't want to die in Shinjuku..."

Leon nodded, only half-aware of his actions as he slipped the lighter back into his pocket and gently scooped Kanon up, sliding her onto his back and walking slowly with her, a hand on her back.

"Me neither..."

The only light came from the neon shades of the abandoned game center; a teenage boy was dead there, his head resting on one of the consoles. His eyes looked more hollow and glassy than the others, and part of his hair had fallen out.

Kanon buried her face in Leon's back and remained silent as they completed the trek out of the tunnel, taking huge gasps of air once they arrived on the murky, green-grey side. The rain was pouring down hard and they were soaked within minutes.

"It almost smells like the ocean," She commented snidely, laughing. "I need to smoke..."

Leon nodded along, gently placing her down near a divider in the road. "Don't we all. Don't we all,"

"Seeing all of the chaos on this side almost makes me sad...I was hoping what had happened was just for us. Wouldn't that make us special?" She laughed weakly, coughing.

"No, it wasn't just us. I read a lot about it. Called 'the crazies', or something,"

"Let's stay together for the rest of our lives," Kanon called, slowly crawling over to him and tightly hugging his leg. "Please Big Brother. Forever. For the rest of our lives,"

Her skin was burning hot to the touch.

**####**

**Nagoya; July 2nd; 1994**

* * *

Three months along. Wow, she was already three months along! It sounded so unreal to her. She stared down at her figure in the mirror that morning, seeing only a teeny-tiny little swell, really nothing that could be taken for pregnancy yet. Even if she wore the tightest shirt she owned, it still would look more like she had gained a bit of weight. Well, she had, just not in that way. She was amazed her school uniform still fit her in spite of that; she still had it, why not, who would she return it to?

She had a sudden craving for horseradish and onion sandwiches and started to laugh at herself, just standing there, laughing. She was disgusting. Maybe she was finally starting to go crazy after all. Her and Hifumi were the only two survivors of the Despair Disease in her town; maybe she really was going crazy. Some nights, if she stayed awake long enough and laid completely still, she could hear the clacking-clicking of his keyboard keys as he rapidly typed away on a new project of his frantically. It still spooked her how even though they were many blocks away from each other, she could hear that. _She could hear that._

Sayaka had decided to get out of the house once again and started to aimlessly walk down the streets, not paying much attention to her surroundings. The town was dead and she disliked that. She had spent enough time dwelling on it as it was. She became attracted to the sound of a lawn-mower going off and hurried off in that direction, curious. Clearly it had to be-

She blinked. Yes, it was Hifumi all right, mowing his front lawn in his thong-like briefs. He wore nothing else, and the grass was extremely cut-down; almost nothing remained. She blinked again, standing there silently and wondering how long it'd take Hifumi to actually notice her.

He briefly looked up to keep track of where he was going and let out a shriek when he saw Sayaka standing there, expressionless. In a flash, he shut the lawn mower off and rushed inside the house, slamming the door shut behind him. She simply walked up the steps to the house and let herself in, seeing green footprints on the wooden floors lead to the kitchen. After slipping her own shoes off, she followed the footsteps and found Hifumi sitting at the table with an open pitcher of fruit juice in front of him, just sitting there. She took a seat across from him.

"Want some juice?" He asked softly, and she nodded and poured it for herself, wincing at how watery it tasted. "You don't like me. I know that's a hard fact for someone like myself to swallow, but it's true! You don't like me! I've known it this whole time,"

"I don't hate you! Not at all," Sayaka tried to reassure him with a gasp. "Given the current circumstance, if I had to be alone with anyone else...I'm glad it's you, Hifumi-san,"

He was silent for a long time again.

"Big Sister mainly dealt with our parents while they were sick, she got sick herself later. At the time, I was freaking out and had no clue what to do and was glad she was there, and eventually they died. When she came downstairs and told me our mom had died, my first thought was...relief. I didn't think it'd be that bad, that quick. She was gone now. My parents never understood me, as you know. But after Big Sister died, that's when I started to freak out again. The one person in my life who actually got me...was just gone, just like that. Suddenly...nothing made sense. Nothing made sense after that. And then I started to feel upset over losing my parents too. I mean...I sound like a crazy person, don't I? Like in those anime where they lose a close family member or friend...I thought I would grieve like that," He adjusted his glasses.

Sayaka placed her hand on the table. "I think everyone mourns in their own way,"

"Forgive me for being so intrusive, Sayaka-sama, but you didn't seem like you grieved much at all,"

"My father was a selfish jerk," She said quickly. "But that's all in the past now. We have each other, Hifumi-san. And that's all we need,"

Nodding, Hifumi started to reach his hand across the table too, only to think better of it and take it back, leading it flop uselessly at his side again.

"Let's go have a picnic,"

* * *

They decided to have their picnic in a nearby park, not wishing to stray too far. It was a simple one of red-bean-paste-filled dumplings, lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches, and a large bottle of Coke each that were cooled in the small pond. They didn't say much as they ate, but once they were starting to finish up, Hifumi cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, making Sayaka look up.

"I do a lot of reading, and I was just thinking. There's a disease-research facility near the center or Yokohama. I thought that...maybe...we should go there. See if there are any survivors, any other people immune like us. If there are, they could help us!"

Sayaka smiled happily. "Oh, Hifumi-san, that sounds wonderful! That's a great idea! They might've made a vaccine, or some other sort of drug, that we could take! We could give it to the other survivors too!" The irony never once crossed her mind.

Hifumi blushed a bit in surprise. "They're not secret places, and I'm sure we could find a way inside if need be,"

"But...they might also be dead..."

"They could be. Never overthink the negatives, Sayaka-sama! They are professionals trained to deal with diseases, so they might have some extra precautions taken. And they could be looking for immune people like us!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get a map out and start our travels!"

Hifumi couldn't help smiling to himself as he took in Sayaka's enthusiastic smile and rosy cheeks. He hadn't seen her smile so widely since the pandemic started, so he was glad to see it return. And for something he had said!

They finished eating and packed up the picnic basket, heading back to Sayaka's place.

"Yokohama is quite a long ways away from here though. How will we get there in a timely manner by walking?" She asked curiously, slipping her house slippers back on.

"Whoever said we would be walking? A lady like you shouldn't have to deal with that! I was thinking of bikes, or a motorscooter. Or even driving a car, if you can," He peered over at Sayaka, who shook her head.

"Not old enough..." She trailed off, suddenly realizing how silly that sounded. In the old world, she was two years too young to get a driver's licence, but in this new world, she could do whatever she wanted. Still, she didn't think it was such a good idea with the roads being as crowded as they'd likely be in even bigger cities.

"Scooters it is," Hifumi nodded to himself. "We can't leave just yet though. No, I have to do something first. And we'll need supplies, of course. What kind of an RPG player would I be if I didn't understand that first rule at the start of any quest?"

"We'd just need food, some clothes..." Sayaka thought about it.

"And a gun. I don't mean to frighten you, Sayaka-sama, but in a world like the one we live in now, I don't think...that...some men we might encounter...they might not be gentlemen like I am when they see you," He adjusted his glasses, looking away in embarrassment.

She felt her own face heat up as well. "Oh...where would you even get one?"

"I have my ways," And she left it at that.

"What else do you have planned to do here?" She asked curiously, noticing Hifumi standing up from his seat and darting out of the house, taking some paint with him. Curious, Sayaka followed after him in just her pink house slippers, running down a field and finding him slowly climbing up a ladder, panting, still holding onto that bucket of paint and brush, climbing to one of the few houses in town with a slanted roof as opposed to a flat one. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself!" She gasped, starting to climb up the ladder after him.

"I thought this would be a good idea. Just in case anyone else comes by here," He explained, finally climbing to the roof and panting heavily.

Sayaka continued to climb, blushing as she felt her stomach suddenly flip and bulged her cheeks out. Nervous, she started to slowly climb back down. She knew what it was; the baby and her soda and the heat, but Hifumi didn't need to know what was wrong. Her stomach sloshed around widely.

"Are you alright, Sayaka-sama? You look pale," He looked down at her as she carefully stepped off the ladder.

"It's gotten too hot out for me," She smiled sweetly, pushing some hair away from her face. When Hifumi's back was fully turned, she felt her stomach slosh again before suddenly cannonballing, and she rushed over to a cluster of trees and let it fly, throwing up undigested soda and lettuce into the grass. She made sure to cough quietly, sighing. The vomit still had bubbles in it, even. She couldn't help thinking what a waste it was.

* * *

After a few hours, Hifumi came back into the house to find a recently-showered Sayaka, wearing a graphic T-shirt with black leggings on. She was running a hand through her bob when he suddenly grabbed her arm, making her look at him in surprise.

"Sayaka-sama! Caught you just at the right time! I wanted to show you what I was working on earlier!" He pulled her outside.

"You didn't get a sunburn or anything?" She asked in surprise.

"Sunburns are nothing to someone like me!" He motioned her over to the roof, and she tilted her head curiously to read what he had written there.

He had written down their location as well as what day they would leave, their approximate coordinates, and their full names. She gasped at the sight.

"Oh, Hifumi-san...you didn't have to do that,"

"I know, but I thought it might help at least one person, right? You never know," He shrugged.

Sayaka went back inside the house, suddenly feeling tired. The sun was starting to sink lower into the horizon. Hifumi followed after her. "I also found this when I was cleaning the house out a few days ago," He went into another room and came back with a portable record player, all pastel pink. "It runs on batteries, but I don't know if it'll still work. It looks pretty old,"

"Try it," Sayaka suggested, and he nodded and turned the player on, sliding a random track onto the phonograph, and they listened together as it slowly sputtered to play, filling the living room with whatever was the last song left on it. "A Western song!" She said in amazement; it was slow and spoke of dreams.

"Huh. Never took Big Sister for the type," Hifumi said, and they remained quiet for a few minutes until Sayaka offered him her hand, and he slowly took it, nervously looking at her. She nodded and stood up, gently beginning to slow-dance with him to the song. "S-Sayaka-sama...?!"

She simply smiled weakly at him and they continued to slow-dance together, weaving their way around the living room and around the chairs. The song played for the better half of the night, filling their entire block with the sound of a long-gone world.

**#####**

**Osaka; July 2nd; 1994**

* * *

Chihiro slept fitfully, feeling feverish and likely delirious from the pain in his leg. At the time, he had been far more concerned with his eye than his leg; now the eye only had a dull pain in it while the pain in his leg was a fiery one, burning him just as much as his forehead burned and wracked him with pain and shivers.

He moaned as he rolled over in his sleep; he had been asleep for the past day or so, only drinking water and having no appetite. His dreams were cluttered and vivid, vivid in the sense he could actually hear them for once.

_The Priestess of Love! The most beautiful woman!_

_That's your name, Chihiro-chan. Can you read that?_

_My name is Kokichi. I hope you won't forget about me!_

On and on they went, repeating endlessly like some sort of demented VHS.

He moaned again, starting to slip into a half-awakened state when another dream took hold of him and forced him back into slumberland forcefully, almost like a chokehold. It was different from the other dreams Chihiro had; it featured him sitting on a small cliff overlooking a vibrantly-lit city.

Was that Nagasaki? The name responded with a positive ring in his head, so perhaps it was. But why was he overlooking Nagasaki?

"All of this could be yours, and more. Just say it. Just get down on your knees and worship me, promising me you'll live a life of despair," A female voice commented, appearing from the shadows. Chihiro blushed heavily as he stared at her; she wore a white starched blouse with a red tie, a red jumper that stopped dangerously high on her thighs, and cream-coloured heeled boots with red laces, the heels several inches thick and tall. She wore her hair in a small side-braid tied back with a hair-pin shaped like the mascot Kuma-chan. Her blouse was tight and small enough on her that Chihiro could see the shape of her breasts very well, as well as her lacy black bra peeking through the thin fabric.

He shook his head, terrified as he had the sudden image of the woman pushing him right off that cliff and into the swirling darkness below with a simple wave of her finely-manicured hand.

"Why can't you talk? You aren't dumb, are you?" She put her hands on her hips.

He started to go through the motions again of pointing to his throat and shaking his head, only to hear his voice come out of his mouth; it sounded deep and masculine and not what he had expected at all: "I can't t-talk...I-I'm a deaf-mute..."

"You could talk if you wanted to," The woman stepped closer, grabbing his chin roughly and forcing him to look into her crystal-blue eyes. "You could talk, and hear, and so much more,"

And suddenly, Chihiro could indeed hear; the sounds of birds cawing overhead, the general bustle of the city, even the wind as it rushed past them. He opened his mouth in shock, unable to process it all at once. He ran his hand along the brown leather jacket he had on and marveled at the smoothness of it; his slip made a pleasant crinkling sound. He looked back up at the woman and found she was holding a small purple mirror in her hands.

"Anything and everything you could ever want. How about being a world-famous programmer?" The mirror changed and warped to show an image of a slightly-older Chihiro, surrounded by computers on all directions and smugly holding up a silver trophy. "Or a girlfriend? I could find you a European one, or at least one who's pretending!" The image changed again to show him dressed in a dark Victorian suit, making-out with a pale girl in a gothic ensemble. "Or I could make it so you have that perfect body you've always wanted," The image changed yet again into his current reflection, only far taller and more muscular, grinning as he wore a leather jacket with bandages on his chest. "Or I can give you all of this."

For a brief moment, Chihiro lost himself, entranced by the images. Being able to talk and hear was more than enough for him, but being able to be a world-famous programmer with just the wave of a hand? He had been struggling to practice the only thing he felt he was good at due to how much he traveled around; being immediately good at it...

"I'm so happy to see you agree!" She made the mirror vanish into thin air. "Remember, all you have to do is get down on your knees and worship me. Promise me you will live a life full of despair!" She cackled, and Chihiro gasped as he found himself, firmly shaking his head.

"N-No...! That's wrong! I could never...!" He trembled as he watched the woman's face turn up into a scowl.

"Hmph. Won't join me..? Fine. Then perish," And with a simple step, she shoved Chihiro right off the cliff, smirking as he screamed loudly. His hands flew around widely as he tried to find something, anything, to grab onto, eventually just closing his eyes and awaiting the painful splatter that was about to follow.

There wasn't a splatter, more like a soft splash as he landed, breathing heavily as he slowly opened up his eyes. Water...? Wait, he recognized those. They were rice paddies, soaked with water. Why was he in a field full of rice? It smelled nice, anyhow. He managed to slowly stand up and pick his way through the field, not wanting to accidentally step on any actual rice.

A sound attracted him, a nice and quiet-sort-of-sound, one that was light and twinkly. Was it music? He kept walking and soon reached a clearing in the field, finding himself looking up at an old house that was old only in its design. A sliding door was pulled open slightly and the porch was raised and the roof was flat and the whole thing was made from wood and bamboo. A small slide was placed off to the side, and the air smelled pleasant, like pork stew. When was the last time he had that?

Standing on the porch was a young-looking girl, wearing a light pink furisode patterned with flowers and chickens; trimmed with violet and yellow. A small yellow flower was placed in her hair, and her eyes were pink and dull. She was holding a small triangle in her hand and beating it every few seconds, twirling around as she sung a song. Chihiro didn't recognize it, but it sounded warm and inviting so he stepped closer to the house, entranced by the girl's dance. She didn't notice him at first, singing to herself, bringing her free arm around slowly in a sort-of-spiral.

Flowers. She was singing about flowers. Chihiro thought that was appropriate, somehow.

She sung for a few more minutes, about to start the second verse when she suddenly stopped herself and stared straight ahead, folding her hands in front of herself.

"Hello? I know that someone is out there. I heard your footsteps. Please come closer," She commanded with a pout. Blushing, Chihiro took a few steps closer, looking down at the ground. He explained that he only wished to hear her sing and see her dance; she was beautiful and talented. "I'm not that good at singing. Dancing I'm good at...I think. But I don't have much else to do around here...hey...hey...how are you doing with the girl with the bear in her hair?"

"She...she scares me...more than you know." He shivered.

"She scares me too. She embodies despair...but it's good to be afraid, sometimes. Being afraid helps you figure out the right thing to do to protect yourself, to protect others," The girl continued to stare straight ahead, blinking. "The people who lived around here...they used to call me Miss Chiaki, or Lady Nanami. I'm only fifteen-years-old, but I've lived here my whole life. I quickly made a name for myself...fifteen-years-old, I'm blind, and I only know how to make rice-balls...but hey, come see me again, alright? I really like your company,"

Chihiro nodded, then blushed even more and answered in the affirmative. He felt like a fool, trying to nod for a blind girl when he of all people should know better.

"I don't even notice I'm blind most of the time," She tried to reassure him. "Come again, please. Come again and bring some friends of yours. I really like company...I think I do. It's been a while since I've had any. I can make them all rice-balls, I suppose. I'll always be right here, because a blind girl like me likes to stay out of danger,"

"But-" Chihiro felt the drowsiness starting to take him over as the vision started to get blurry.

"I'll still be here. Bring your friends, okay?"

"Where-"

"Right here, don't worry. I'll always be right here..."

Chihiro woke with a sudden start, breathing heavily and clutching his chest. The leather from his jacket had stuck to him from his sweat, so in disgust, he slowly peeled it off. He took off the long skirt as well, standing there in a transparent slip dress that really didn't leave anything to the imagination. He ran his hand down the silk and paused, not hearing the delightful crinkle he had earlier, in his dream.

So, that just proved that whatever had happened had all been a dream...

The wound on his leg had healed up significantly, but he still bit back tears whenever he moved it too suddenly or had something touch it. At the time, he was far more concerned with his eye than his leg, but now it seemed both were healed as good as they'd get.

He had the sudden urge to move up north, travel there, and started to stand up and gather supplies. He didn't really know what was beckoning him north, he just knew something was, and there wasn't anything left for him in Osaka anyway, so might as well go. But first though, he'd need some supplies. And the first thing on his agenda was a fresher pair of clothes.

Chihiro recalled Karen and her diminutive statue, knowing they'd be around the same body size if not height. He shuddered as he slowly wandered into their house and slipped his shoes off; darkened and abandoned by even looters. He walked uneasily and threw open the white chest of drawers in their bedroom that he somehow knew belonged to her and grabbed a fistful of the most androgynous clothing he could find before shutting it. Heading back to the police station, he brushed his hair and slid a white flower-shaped barrette into it just to keep it out of his way and put on the striped, bright orange crop top, neon-pink overalls with short hot pants, white leg warmers, and red sneakers. He stuck his tongue out at the appearance; he looked like a traffic cone! Or his mother when she was very young. But it fit him, so he couldn't complain.

Using a white woolen blanket from the closet, he slowly cut it up into a rectangle-shaped patch and carefully tied the strings around his right ear before fastening it to his damaged right eye. The world suddenly turned from grey to black and he blinked a few times to get adjusted.

Next was a blue backpack from an outfitter's that he filled with more pain medicine for his leg, ammo for the gun-which he briefly hoped he would never have to use again-as well as food and water. He just got canned necessities and other types of snack food for energy, but felt his mouth watering when he caught sight of sealed container full of purple-frosted cupcakes.

_...Don't I deserve to spoil myself?_

Before he could have a second thought, he grabbed the cupcakes and shoved them into the backpack too. He wondered what kind of a sight he would be to other survivors with his neon-pink hot pants, handmade eyepatch, and a backpack full of ravioli and cupcakes.

The last thing on his list was simply transportation, and he slowly limped around the remains of the town, peeking into any open garages he could find, his eyes widening when he finally found what he was looking for.

A medium-sized bike in lime green that even had a basket and was just the right size for him to ride! He ran over to it, pausing for a second as he clenched his fists.

It was alright. The owners were likely long-dead by that point.

He shivered and steadily climbed onto the bike, slowly pedaling out of the city of Osaka, never once looking back as he left behind the destruction and carnage.

A few nights after he left, he managed to catch sight of a meteor shower streaking through the sky, filling it with silvery ribbons. He opened his mouth in amazement and reached his hand out towards the sky in hopes of touching and catching a falling star.

His mother always called them 'the tears of God', whatever that meant. He suddenly wished he had some sort of telescope or camera to capture the moment forever, but he didn't, instead he had to commit it to memory.

That night, he fell asleep under that very same sky, still marveling in its beauty. He had never seen something as beautiful as that. For once in his life, he felt genuinely happy to be alive.

**####**

**Undisclosed Location; Somewhere Near Yokohama, July 3rd, 1994**

* * *

Makoto jumped when he first started to hear the barking of a dog, glancing around. He had originally assumed all of the dogs were dead, as any he came across on his journey certainly were. What sort of thinking was that, though? A few humans survived the Despair Disease, so surely a few dogs must've too? Either way, that didn't automatically mean it was friendly, so Makoto stiffened up and continued to walk on silently, trying to prove to the dog he wasn't a threat and was just passing through.

The barking didn't let up, however, and only grew more excited as a yellow-red Golden Retriever ran up to him and jumped on him, soft paws padding on the pavement. Makoto cried out in surprise as they both fell, the dog pinning him down and eagerly wagging its tail. Makoto's dark red hat had fallen off. He gave the dog a pat on the head.

"Blavatsky! Get off him, boy! Have you no manners?" A voice scolded the dog-evidently named Blavatsky-and with a whine, he got off Makoto and bounded back towards where his owner was running up; an older looking man with long dreadlocks and a long green and brown robe, of all the things. Makoto sat up and pulled his hat back on, making sure the brim covered his face again. "Hey there, no need to pull that out on me! I don't have anything you want, and that's a promise!"

"Huh?" Makoto blinked in confusion until the man pointed at the gun hanging by his belt. He blushed a bit. "Just in case...I haven't actually used it.."

"Good, good. Anyway, the name's Hagakure Yasuhiro, and I gotta say I'm pretty stoked to see another fellow human 'round here in these parts. Been a week or so," He said.

"I'm Naegi Makoto, nice to meet you," He bowed. "Is that your dog?"

"Nah, I found this dude wandering around shortly after the neighborhood emptied. He didn't have anyone, I didn't have anyone...it seemed fitting. That wasn't even his real name. I changed it, but he seems better for it," He nodded at Makoto. "Stay a while! I got some food if you're hungry for it! And if not, you're welcome to hang around on my porch for a bit!"

Makoto smiled gratefully and followed Yasuhiro up the steps to his porch, finding an orange cooler, a piano, and an unfinished painting of the ocean there. "You paint?" He asked nicely, pointing to it.

"Yeah, if only to keep myself from going crazy! I'm not that good at it, but hey, everyone is dead now. Which makes me the best artist of them all!" He opened up the cooler and handed Makoto some crackers with pepperoni and cheese spray along with fig cookies. "You're from up north, aren't ya? Yokohama! I can tell by the accent,"

"Oh, really?" Makoto blushed a bit as he started to eat, having an urge to not respond to anything he said next. "Is my accent really that noticeable...?"

"No worries, Makoto-chi. I traveled a lot in my youth, so I memorized a ton of different Japanese accents," He bragged, making Makoto choke on and nearly spit out his food. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not some old geezer yet, I'll have you know that I'm still in my prime! I'm only twenty-nine!"

Twenty-nine...still eleven years older than Makoto himself. He felt numb. Blavatsky walked over and sniffed the ground for any leftover crumbs.

"So, why are you wanderin' around here all by yourself?" Yasuhiro returned to his painting. "On a quest?"

"In a way," Thus, Makoto began to tell him everything that had happened to him, starting with the now-dead Kirigiris crashing into his porch and ending with their meeting. Yasuhiro whistled a bit.

"Wow, a lot of stuff has happened to you! You're a regular adventurer!" He gasped. "I'm almost jealous...my story ain't that impressive. Just myself and Momma for a few years. There was a father involved, but they both decided to end it when she caught him cheating. Well, Momma was cheatin' too, I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but..." He swirled the brush around in some green. "She says he was pretty dead-beat, anyway, burned one of our houses down once. Anyway, just us two. I always found myself in financial trouble and girl trouble...Momma always tried to set me straight, she did! When that Despair Disease hit, I thought I was going to die and genuinely accepted death. I had nothing left to live for; I had no friends or really anyone who'd miss me but Momma. But I survived. Momma did not, and I miss her every day," He sighed. "But it's alright. I figured I got saved because I have something super important to do, you know?"

Makoto stuffed another cracker into his mouth.

"Whoa, don't eat so fast! Your stomach might flip! Do you feel okay? How's your digestion, dude?!"

"Um...it's been good. Really good, in fact. No need to worry," Makoto smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah, I've mainly just been doin' a lot of thinking. Like, what does our survival mean? What does it imply? Surely there's more than just us two, you know? There's gotta be more out there somewhere, all looking for more, wondering if they're truly the only ones left alive. Hey, one of them might even be a chick, and that chick could be pregnant or something! I'm sure some pregnant women had to have survived, right? Would their babies survive? I don't know...maybe a half-chance, because the mother was immune to the Despair Disease, but the father wasn't. But after a few years or so, we'll start getting more children from parents who were both survivors. So there's that," He swirled the brush around in some blue.

Makoto smiled awkwardly again. "Um, the only person I've seen so far has been you...I've definitely not run into any...pregnant women..." He finished up his food. "But...I have a hope that there are other survivors out there somewhere too. Perhaps they're all out there, looking for us! We could all form our own little group!"

"Oh! I just remembered!" Yasuhiro announced and darted off the porch, while Makoto shrugged and fed Blavatsky a leftover cracker, which the retriever licked at blissfully. Yasuhiro came back onto the porch a few minutes later, carrying a case full of beers. "Here, I thought you'd need something to wash that down with!"

Makoto laughed nervously. "Uh, I'm only eighteen...I'm not old enough to drink..."

"So? It's the thought that counts, nobody else is around to enforce the law, and you look like you could use a drink! Plus, it's just beer, it's not like I'm making you drink something super heavy," He pulled one of the cans out and thrust it at Makoto's face, who blushed and slowly took it, opening it and taking a few sips. It was pleasantly cool and bubbly. Where did he manage to make it so cold?

They sat in silence for a while as Blavatsky curled up at Makoto's feet, Makoto himself polished off another beer, and Yasuhiro finished up his painting. He nodded to it before he started to put the painting supplies away.

"I just gotta say this to someone, someone! You have dreams too, right?" He asked Makoto fearfully, making him lean back from how close the man suddenly was.

"Of what?" He feigned innocence.

"Creepy dreams, scary dreams, dreams that make you wake up terrified! Ones with that girl in them. The one with that bear in her hair. She's bad news, dude, bad news indeed! Everything about her radiates negativity and bad vibes." He explained.

Makoto could only nod. Of course he was familiar with those dreams; they haunted him as much as that dead Mrs. Kirigiri did. In them, the woman offered him the ability to strengthen a powerful talent, riches beyond his wildest dreams, and anything else his mind could comprehend.

"She's trouble. Everytime she appears, she's wearing a super old-fashioned cloak and dress. And all she ever does is taunt me, saying she can make all of my wildest dreams come true. Does that not sound suspicious? That sounds suspicious. She's probably a succubus trying to entice you into making a deal with her!"

They sat in silence again until the evening flared up.

"Why don't you come with me and look for more survivors? Unless you want to stay here...but there's safety in numbers, and I'm sure anyone else we come across would like to see a greater number," Makoto offered shyly.

"Of course I'll come! Like I said, I was chosen or something! Besides, you're not half-bad to talk to. I wouldn't mind the company at all," Yasuhiro agreed . "As long as Blavatsky gets to come," His dog barked in agreement.

The two shook on it.

**####**

**A Prison in Tokyo; July 4th, 1994**

* * *

The sound of clicking boots on the concrete pulled Hajime from his daze slightly, making him glance over at the door. Who was coming for him? Was it the yakuza finally, after all this time? Or some guard? He shivered and returned to leaning his head against the wall, finding he still wasn't ready for quite that much effort. Whoever it was would just see the prison emptied and go about on their way. Maybe they were trying to rob the place; why one would try to rob a prison he had no clue, but he didn't know all of the people in the world. Maybe there really was some loser out there who wanted to rob a prison.

The boots clicked louder and louder, coming to a pause right outside his cell. He lifted his head enough to see a woman, of all people, with her hair tied up in a poofy bun held by a multicoloured bow and a bear charm. She also wore a pair of black sunglasses and a matching choker. She wore a long leopard-print jacket with lots of fur trim, white jeans, a black lace garter-who wore a garter over their jeans?-and high-heeled black boots. Her nails were perfectly manicured; red, and she carried a tiny black purse with her.

"Wakey-wakey, Hajime-y," She grinned, gently tapping the outside of the bars with those nails of hers. "Wakey-wakey,"

Hajime looked over at her and mustered up enough strength to crawl over to her, feeling his baggy clothes sag on his figure. He kneeled in front of her and glanced up at her with defiance in his eyes, sensing a very dangerous vibe from her.

"How sad, how long have you been locked away in here for? Almost forgotten...even your ties with the yakuza couldn't save you," She crossed her arms under her expansive chest and pouted.

"H-How...did...?" He asked weakly, but she ignored him.

"You went without food for a while, didn't you? How sad, that just won't do for a growing boy!" She tutted. "But you know that, don't you? You ate some very bad things, didn't you, Hajime-kun? All just to survive," She lowered herself down and gently ran her hand down his cheek, making him shudder. She smiled.

He didn't answer, instead tried to shy away from her touch. He watched as she pulled something out of her pocket and let the light shine on it; a silver key. He vaguely recalled that all of the cells locked electronically, you needed a special key-card to open them. One of the guards explained that to him on his first night. Yet, she was sticking that key right into the slot, and he heard the electronic beep. The door swung open, and she smiled at him again.

"I had a really nice dinner, thank you for asking! A nice, big slice of pepperoni pizza, thick with cheese and heavy on the grease, a side of celery sticks, each one crisp and thick and watery, dipped into ranch, very tangy, all washed-down with some bubbly Coke. Would you like that, Hajime-kun?"

Hajime nodded beside himself, nodding vigorously. It all sounded so good...a smaller voice in his head told him to fight it, that going with that woman was bad news, but he managed to fight off that voice. Food was far more important.

"I'd love to get something to eat with you, but...I need you to make a promise to me. Think of this as a...proposition, of sorts, I guess. I'm not good with fancy words, but you know what I mean!"

"What...do you need me to do...?"

"See, I want to do this thing. But I can't do it alone. Other people will help me; they're heading south right now as we speak. But! I need someone special, someone who will be like my bodyguard or something. You know, like a right-hand man sort of deal," She leaned in very close to his face. "Wouldn't you like that, Hajime-kun? To go from a nobody to a somebody? To make everyone who mocked you before, for being talentless, pay? Wouldn't you like that?"

Hajime nodded again, very slowly managing to stand up. She continued to smile. "Yes...I'll help you...as long as no harm comes to me,"

"Why would I want to hurt my right-hand man?" She looked genuinely shocked, then handed him the key tied to a black ribbon. He did a double-take; it had formed into a clay skull bead. He was hallucinating from the hunger, nothing more.

"I'll help you, then," He decided, sliding the ribbon around his neck.

"Wonderful! You may call me Enoshima Junko-chan! Or -sama, if that floats your boat better. Oh, we're going to have so much fun together, Hajime-kun!" She clasped her hands together. Hajime tried to look into her sunglasses but couldn't make out the reflection of her eyes. He suddenly turned cold. "Now come on, let's get pizzas! Or cheeseburgers? No! Both!" She tugged on his arm.

"Never thought my salvation...would come from a hooker," He managed to jab at her as they left the prison, holding hands. She glanced back at him with a slightly-twisted smile.

"That saying comes from somewhere, Hajime-kun,"

**#####**

**Somewhere Outside Shinjuku; July 4th, 1994**

* * *

Luckily, one of them had managed to bring a tent; Leon didn't recall who it was and ultimately decided that it mattered little, and slept in it that night, far away from the streets and the city in general. It was shaping up to be a beautiful morning; even complete with chirping birds. Leon felt exhilarated that morning, only sobering a bit when he knew he'd have to make breakfast for both him and Kanon. Was she even in any state to eat? For the past few days, she had puked up anything that was given to her and tossed in bed with a dangerously high fever. He was clueless on what to do with her aside from just letting her rest and continuously giving her water.

He looked at her figure now, tightly bundled up underneath her sleeping bag. He briefly considered waking her, but decided against it quickly. She was sick; she needed her rest. She'd wake up when she was ready.

They had some cold, cooked ramen left and some Kit-Kats, so Leon supposed that was as good a breakfast as any. They were almost out of water, but he'd let Kanon have the rest if she asked.

He climbed out of their tent and adjusted his jersey, sitting near the tent and pulling out the food, stirring the ramen just loud enough in the hopes Kanon would be roused and hurried over to him. He started to hum under his breath as well; it sounded rusty and choppy due to him not having warmed-up beforehand, but who was around to even really care? Kanon? She wouldn't criticize his singing if the world depended on it.

After the ramen was sufficiently stirred enough, he glanced back over at the tent and noticed Kanon still hadn't roused. Partly concerned, partly annoyed, he stood up and stormed over to the tent, pulling the flap open.

"Yo, Kanon-chan! Breakfast is done! I don't care if you don't eat it, but you at least need to drink some water! Kanon-chan!" He walked over to her and yanked the covers off her, freezing in horror at what he saw.

Her hair was loosened and fell into her face, partially covering it up. Her face was scarlet, and a pool of puke was under her head, having dripped from her mouth. Part of her blouse had been loosened, and her eyes were sunken-in.

He stared at her in horror for several minutes, not quite believing it. He looked around for any sort of sign she had offed herself, knowing how stupid such a theory sounded. She had died because he was too annoyed with her to properly take care of her. Well, he had tried, at least. But in the end, it was fruitless. What were her last thoughts when she died? Did she even have any? He knew it was 'the crazies', he just knew, somehow. She kinda looked the same way his mother did when she succumbed, except she never vomited.

Leon shook his head and started to cover her back up, wanting to clear his head. His hand was shaking and his stomach turned from the overwhelming stench of vomit in the tent. He walked out calmly, on shaky legs, before he collapsed a few feet away and started to hurl. It burned his throat; mainly being bile, and some even came out his nose. He took a few shuddering breaths before he somehow managed to recompose himself, starting to gather up his supplies.

A sense of relief washed over him, and he winced. What kind of a horrible bastard was he, feeling relief and not grief over the death of his own cousin? He looked over at the tent and threw his things down.

She said she didn't want to die in the city; that she wanted to die in a field somewhere. He owed her that, at least. She was his cousin. She was owed that much.

So, Leon got out a small shovel she had in her pack-he didn't even want to know why she had it originally-and started to dig a small but deep hole, just large enough for her, far away from the tents, next to a small patch of blooming flowers. She would like that, right?

He winced as he slowly peeled her sweaty body from its sleeping bag, carrying it on his shoulders and gently setting it down in the hole he dug. After making sure she looked presentable, he refilled the hole, leaving one of his rings there as a marker. It wasn't valuable; and even if it was stolen, it wouldn't matter much. Just a small little trinket.

After he stood at the makeshift grave silently for a few seconds, he finished packing everything up, going on his way. He walked down into a nearby town and instantly refilled his supplies, getting a new pair of clothes as well. These fit his aesthetic better, he felt; tight black jeans with a studded metal belt and chain, white Converse with a matching plaid jacket, and red graphic shirt. He looked at himself in the store's mirror, striking several poses.

"Lookin' good, if I do say so myself!" He smirked.

Nobody was around to agree.

He then grabbed his bag and got on a nearby motorcycle, driving slow at first before he saw an outfitter's store and got himself some gloves and a helmet, only then allowing himself to speed.

Where he would go next, he had no idea. He just hoped that where-ever he'd end up going, he'd meet someone along the way. Perhaps a pretty girl! She'd be scared and alone, saddened by the recent tragedy, and he'd take her in his arms and comfort her...

Or a dude.

Anyone.

Leon would never admit it, but he got lonely pretty easily.

**#####**

**Undisclosed Location; Somewhere Between Yokohama and Nagoya; July 4th, 1994**

* * *

Makoto looked up at the sound of motors running, blinking curiously. They didn't sound like motorcycles...

He looked over in the direction they came from and started to pack up his things, having finished his lunch anyway. Soon two figures on motorscooters came into view; two teenagers, a girl and a boy.

"Hello...?" He raised his hand in greeting, hoping they'd be friendly. To his relief, the girl smiled back and stopped her bike near him, taking her helmet off and shaking out her head. She had blue hair pulled into a ponytail and wore a sunny yellow blouse and pleated knee-long white skirt with work boots; she even wore lacy gloves and pearl earrings.

"Hello yourself! We haven't seen people in quite a few days, so you're a sight for sore eyes," She gave Makoto a friendly smile and started to hurry over to him when the boy jumped inbetween them, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking Makoto over.

"And just where are you off to?" He instantly questioned, sizing up the gun on his waist.

"Where-ever I need to be. Right now I'm trying to head west, actually," He smiled in a non-threatening way. "How about you two?"

"The Yokohama Disease Research Facility. We think that-what's wrong?" She asked in shock, noticing Makoto had gone pale at the name.

"I...I just came from there. Believe me, you don't want to go there. It's...not a nice place. Certainly nobody living there," He said, making the girl's eyes widen.

"Well, where's the proof of that? You can't just make up some outlandish statement and expect us to fall for it, Sir! Trying to steer us away from our true goal, huh?" Hifumi suddenly demanded.

Makoto slipped up the sleeve of his shirt, showing off the injection sites. "They took my blood for testing,"

"Oh no..." She pouted, looking at Hifumi. "Maybe we should,"

"No way! Pardon my audacity, Sayaka-sama, but there's still no way he's telling the truth! Even if he did come from there, there could still be healthy people! Or, he's in cohorts with them and is just trying to lead us astray!"

"W-What?!" Makoto gasped in surprise.

Hifumi pulled out the gun from his pack and aimed it right at Makoto, making Sayaka cry out and Makoto hold up his hands.

"Wait!"

"Hifumi-san, you stop that right now!" Sayaka scolded, sounding bold. "Even if he is lying, which I'm pretty sure he isn't, you don't need to pull a gun out on him!"

"B-But..." Hifumi trembled a bit, holding the gun crookedly. Makoto frowned a bit and slowly lowered his hands, motioning for Hifumi to come over. "No way! You're trying to tempt me!"

"I just want to have a civil conversation," Makoto shook his head. "We're a small group of survivors, and fighting amongst each other isn't going to do any good at all. I think we should form a group. I'll take you up to Yokohama, but after that, it's your choice on where you want to go and do next," He explained.

Sayaka nodded, looking at Hifumi. He slowly lowered the gun and stumbled over to Makoto, who took him a few feet away from Sayaka.

"Hifumi-san...I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just some guy like you, trying to keep my cool in this new environment. It's pretty scary, I'm not going to lie, but I have the hope that I'll find other survivors like me and we'll all make it work," He began. "You seem fairly close to her. That's good, we all need strong bonds going forward. But...I'm going to speak...plainly. You can't just attack everyone you see! You have to have at least some trust going forward, because not everyone is going to react as nicely as I did just now if they get a gun waved in their face. Not in a world like this,"

Hifumi slowly nodded, starting to put the gun away. "Speaking plainly...then let me say something to you, Sir,"

"Naegi Makoto,"

"Sir Makoto! Yes, I love Sayaka-sama with all of my heart. But...I can admit defeat if it punches me hard enough. She...doesn't love me back. I know this. I think all she's doing now is tolerating me...but she needs me. We're the only two survivors of our community, you know. She needs that familiarity in her life," He whispered, and Makoto nodded.

"I understand that. Do we agree?"

"Yes! Sir Makoto, I will follow you where-ever you may go!" He struck a triumphant pose, making Makoto chuckle a bit before heading back over to Sayaka.

"Did you work it out?" She asked, pulling out some food from her pack.

"We sure did! I'll take you two to Yokohama,"

The three then decided to eat out in the sun, enjoying it. Makoto had just eaten, but he relayed to the duo everything that had transpired to him at the medical facility, seeing that silver-haired woman continuously pop up in his vision. Yasuhiro had gone out to walk Blavatsky and wouldn't be back for quite a while. Somehow, he knew he'd be fine with the new additions to their little team.

Sayaka spoke of her past before the pandemic, laughing and giggling. Even Hifumi got in on it, telling them some funny stories he made up on the fly. Makoto laughed along with them, liking how they were in such good spirits despite everything.

He paid special attention to their accents, liking how they hung on certain characters that didn't have the emphasis. It made him think of thick, loopy, roller-coaster track phrases that he could ride smoothly. He wasn't mocking; he figured his clear, longer way of speaking was humorous to them as well. He noticed how the sun lit up Sayaka's face and her blouse, making her look like a sunray itself. He felt his cheeks warm and looked away to prevent her from seeing.

In the future, he would look back on that moment and realize that was when he first started to fall for Sayaka Maizono.


	3. Chihiro 1: New Companion

**Author's Note: Nick's chapter in the actual book is like seventy pages long and I'm not doing monstrously-long chapters in this fanfic anymore, so I split Chihiro's parts up into two chapters. So if you know the source material and want to know why _those _two scenes aren't in here, then they'll be in the next chapter of Chihiro, don't worry. **

**###**

If_ I could have one wish granted,_  
_I would want wings._  
_On my back, as on a bird's,_  
_please give me white wings._  
_I want to spread my wings to the sky,_  
_and fly away._  
_To the free sky, where there is no sadness._  
_I want to flap my wings,_  
_and go there._  
_The dreams I dreamed in childhood._  
_Even now, I still dream._

**Part 3; Journey; July 5th-August 2nd, 1994**  
**Chihiro Fujisaki 1: New Companion**

**####**

**Kakogawa; July 5th, 1994**

-  
A dead body was lying out in the middle of the sidewalk, next to some empty department stores. Dead bodies weren't anything unfamiliar to Chihiro, but he still slowed down his pedaling so he'd have a better chance of swerving past the corpse and not actually ramming into it. He sat up straighter and started to put his right foot down on the pedal when the body suddenly sat up, startling Chihiro badly and making him skid too quickly; the bike flipped him off and made him slam into the hard pavement. He groaned slightly as he felt his palms burn and a warm trickle of blood flow down the top of his head.

"Miss! You took quite a fall! Is Miss alright!?" The man called after Chihiro in a worried tone, who of course couldn't hear him. Chihiro managed to very slowly sit up with another groan, noticing the drops of blood on the sidewalk. How badly cut was he? He crawled over to a store window and widened his good eye, noticing the cut was bleeding rapidly but not heavily; and even the cut was small but hurt badly. He just needed to patch it up. Was there a drugstore nearby? He then turned to look at the man, noticing him staring intently at him. Maybe he could help. "Miss, you took quite a fall! Is Miss alright?" The man asked again.

Chihiro very slowly stood up and nodded, taking in the man's wild dark hair and matching eyes and very muscular form. His uniform was a simple overall suit in a rich shade of blue that strained against his muscles, and he wore no shoes. Chihiro automatically assumed at the time that the man was far older than himself, but he later learned that Gonta was only seventeen, because he didn't recall the economic collapse of the mid-eighties as well as Chihiro had, and he knew Gonta wasn't lying about that. Gonta would never tell a lie.

Chihiro then reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny notebook and pen, slowly writing down and then showing to Gonta:_ I'm perfectly fine! You just gave me a bad scare...I thought you were dead. Then you just sat up like that! My cut is a bit bad, do you know if there's a drugstore anywhere around here? Other than that, I'm fine,_

Gonta took the notebook from Chihiro and stared at it intently for a few maddening seconds before he gave it back with a smile. "Sorry, Miss, but Gonta can't read! So if Miss try to write name on that, Gonta won't know!"

His face fell. Just his luck; the only person in town that he could see and he wouldn't even be able to communicate with him. As a last-ditch effort, he placed his hand over his mouth and made a slash mark with his hand, then did the same for his ears.

"Oh, does Miss have a toothache? Gonta gets those sometimes. They hurt bad!" He gasped. Chihiro shook his head and did the motions again, slower. "Earache?"

Chihiro threw his hands up in annoyance and limped away, carefully picking his bike back up and making sure it wasn't damaged. Just his luck. What was he expecting? Someone like him deserved to be misunderstood; he hadn't even been brave enough to get darker clothes from Karen's place and instead went for the loudest things he could find. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The bike seemed fine, so he started to walk beside it, looking around for a drugstore.

Gonta simply smiled and followed after the mysterious Miss, not having seen anyone in a week or so. He already liked her, but he didn't understand why she wouldn't talk to him. He yanked on her sleeve slightly, making her look back in curiosity.

"Don't you want to talk, Miss? Gonta has lots of things to say,"

She shook her head at him and parked her bike in front of a tree, glancing around the row of stores. Her eye lit up when she noticed the sign for the drugstore, and Gonta pouted. Even if she wanted to go in there, she couldn't, it had been closed off for a week ever since the owner left. Gonta was pretty upset about that, because the cashier always recognized him whenever he came in and gave him a root-beer float. But he hadn't had one of those in a while, and missed them. He felt like they would've kept the dreams away, those scary dreams of the woman in the blue gown with the massive skirt and bows in her hair, making faces at him. She was bad news and made Gonta feel sick whenever he saw her. She liked to chase him in those dreams, and Gonta felt worn-out when he woke up, as if he _had_ truly been running.

What was Miss doing now? After pausing for a moment, she hurled a rock through the drugstore window, which broke with a loud crash as glass sprayed everywhere. Miss jumped back to avoid the shower, staring vacantly at something. As Gonta continued to watch, she slipped her arm in through the broken window and turned the knob of the door, letting it swing gasped in surprise as he tried to rush after Miss, watching her walk in.

"But, wait, Miss! That illegal! That illegal, Miss! Come back!" He tried to call after her, frowning more when she continued to ignore him. "Why Miss not listen to Gonta...? Is Miss deaf?" He suddenly gasped and rushed into the drugstore himself, finding Miss in there dabbing at her forehead cut with a cottonball. "Miss_ is_ deaf! Miss_ is_ deaf!" He then gently tapped on Miss' shoulder and made her turn around, staring at him. "Miss can't talk or hear, right?"

She nodded slowly, and Gonta eagerly clapped his hands and picked her right up off the floor, squeezing her tightly. "Gonta smart! Gonta know what wrong with Miss!"

Chihiro gasped in surprise, feeling his body being squished by Gonta's strength. He looked so genuinely happy about figuring out his disability and he found himself having to smile. Nobody in his life ever acted_ that_ thrilled about being around a deaf-mute.

* * *

The two ate their lunch in a small park, sitting on a bench. Chihiro was small enough that his legs swung back and forth. His bandages formed a criss-cross pattern over his cut as he nibbled on his chips and listened to Gonta speak of his past with an adopted family not being seen kindly by his actual family, since his real family were more sophisticated while his adopted family weren't. He was born the way he was, he stated, and had no idea why. Chihiro felt his eye flutter and rubbed it slightly, his stomach full. He had been sleeping in fields for the past few days and the thought of sleeping on something that vaguely resembled a bed was tempting him. After he swallowed down the rest of his chips, he curled up into a ball beside Gonta and fell fast asleep, the hot afternoon sun beaming down on him.

* * *

Chihiro woke up with a start and blinked a few times, slowly sitting up and trying to figure out why his body felt so heavy and drenched. Was he sick...? Another glance around told him he had fallen asleep on a bench, in the middle of the day, and Gonta, the naive person he was, wanted to make sure Chihiro wouldn't get chilly by wrapping him up in two thick blankets and a quilt.

Who was the real fool there?

He gingerly pulled the blankets off and slipped off the bench, not knowing where Gonta had run off to. Maybe he had gone home already, though from the way he spoke of it earlier, there wasn't much there for him. He said everyone else in town had skipped a week ago shortly after the disease arrived, and Gonta decided to stay with his adopted mother before she eventually succumbed. He pouted a bit as he wandered around, thinking of it. Much like Gonta, he was truly all alone in the world, but at least he had managed to make a few friends before he had to leave. Karen and Daiya, and of course Seiko too, even though she had declined his invitation. But Gonta didn't seem to be able to properly connect to people.

He suddenly felt a great deal of sadness as he thought about that. Gonta was simple-minded and childish, but he didn't deserve to be left all alone like that. Even if he could take care of himself-and Chihiro had the sneaking suspicion he couldn't do that good of a job alone-he'd still feel immense guilt over passing over the one person who could give him company.

But...how entertaining could he, some deaf-mute kid, possibly be? They had no way to communicate because he couldn't talk, because he was stupid like that. Maybe with his luck, Gonta himself would grow bored of his silence and book, leaving him to travel alone once more. Somehow that thought saddened him more. Plus, there was only so many times Chihiro could do his mimic game before he grew tired of it. Would Gonta ever tire of it? He doubted that.

Still, he was there for one more night. He could get his things together and have decided what he wanted to do by the next morning. Forcing himself to perk up with a nod and a fist bump, he decided on that. Maybe he could find some baking supplies lying around somewhere and bake some cupcakes for Gonta before he left. He'd like that, right?

* * *

The next morning, Chihiro headed to the main part of town and caught sight of Gonta, slowly walking over to him and placing his hands on his knees, leaning over to see what Gonta was huddling over.

It was one of those colourful, plastic scientist kits that Chihiro himself used to have when he was younger; he always doubted their authenticity but he liked how he at least got a free magnifying glass out of it. The magnifying glass had been cast aside as Gonta stared intently at a small blue butterfly he had trapped in a jar, fluttering its wings. He wondered if Gonta had intended to keep it before he opened the jar and smiled cheerfully as the butterfly flew away, sweeping low to the ground.

He must've gotten it from a toy store, or a 100-yen store, though Chihiro hadn't seen any of them when he arrived. He slowly reached out and touched Gonta's shoulder, making him jump before he blushed and gave Chihiro a shy smile.

"Sorry, Miss, Gonta woke up early. Gonta wake up with sun!" He looked back down at the toy. "Miss got something from medicine place. So Gonta want something too. Miss not put back?" He gave Chihiro wide eyes, and he shrugged. He absentmindedly rubbed at his eyepatch. "Miss can get something too!" He smiled widely, clasping onto Chihiro's hand. He widened his eye in surprise and nearly collapsed by the time they reached the 100-yen store; breathing heavily and sweating. "Miss alright?"

It took all of his strength to give him a nod, very slowly standing up.

The store window wasn't broken, but the door was left wide open, making Chihiro assume Gonta had simply walked in and the place was never locked.

"Miss have whatever she wants! It not illegal if nobody sees," Gonta explained proudly. Chihiro took a few steps into the store before he stood there, looking at the rows of empty shelves. "Does Miss want toy like Gonta?"

Gonta had already moved past Chihiro and was pointing out various things on the shelves that hadn't been taken; mainly random snack foods, toys, and beauty products. "Miss want this?" He thrust a fancy doll made from fake porcelain into his face, making Chihiro balk. The doll had tangly blonde hair and wore a powder-blue gown and matching bonnet. He slowly shook his head.

_I don't want to be here. I have to leave, I have to make progress...I'm nowhere near Hiroshima..._

"Miss want this?" Gonta held out a transparent white blouse with ruffles that came with a black crop top underneath. He shook his head again. Gonta pouted. "Miss has special taste. Gonta knows just the thing," He raced off and Chihiro trembled a bit, clasping his hands together. Gonta was gone for a longer time than before, and finally Chihiro just turned around and begun to leave, having a sudden thought that perhaps he had just gotten himself lost in the store.

Once he walked out, he felt tears well up in his eye as he tried to swallow down his sobs. He had nothing left to cry for; the sheer fact he was just proved that he was a weak person. Who cried over nothing? He stood there, hands placed firmly in front of him, and trembled madly, biting his lip as he tried to make the tears vanish.

A big hand suddenly spun him around and he found himself staring at Gonta's chest. "Miss, I-Miss! Why Miss crying?!" He asked in shock, and the tears finally came, pouring down his cheeks in full force. He cried softly as usual, looking down. "Gonta no scare Miss, did he? Gonta sorry! He never wants to scare Miss! Miss is pretty lady, and gentlemen never scare pretty ladies!" He said in a determined tone, which made Chihiro cry harder.

How could he even make Gonta understand how wrong he was? He was just being as kind as he was because he thought Chihiro was a girl. And how could Chihiro even tell him if he couldn't read? Even if he showed him, there'd be no explanation. He wasn't even dressed like a girl aside from the barrette and the colours...it was his curse to carry. He'd always be mistaken for a girl no matter what he did, all because he was soft.

Gonta held Chihiro close for the entire time he cried, an act which made Chihiro collapse from exhaustion.

When he came to, he was tucked in on a park bench with a tiny gold chain around his neck. He pawed at it curiously before realizing Gonta must've given it to him.

He really hoped the younger man wasn't falling for him romantically.

He found Gonta playing with the kit again and gently tapped his shoulder, making him jump up.

"You okay, Miss? Gonta was afraid he scare lady." He pouted.

Chihiro shook his head and pointed to the necklace.

"I thought Miss would like it!" He beamed.

He shook his head and motioned to the clasp, tugging at it.

"Miss...no like it? Miss like pretty things," Gonta pouted further, pointing to the barrette in Chihiro's hair. He shook his head and finally pulled the necklace off, handing it to Gonta gently.

_I don't like girly things at all._

He then motioned Gonta over to his bike and pointed at it, then to himself.

"Yes, bike belongs to Miss. Gonta never steal from lady!" He announced proudly.

Chihiro shook his head and pointed to the bike again, then himself, then down the road, then waved. It was silent for a time and he awaited the realization.

"Y-You're leaving, Miss?" Gonta asked in a quiet voice.

Chihiro nodded and started to unlock the bike when Gonta suddenly rushed at him, picking him off the ground and making him squirm around in the tight hug.

"But Gonta no want Miss to leave! Gonta likes Miss, she's nice!" He cried.

Chihiro managed to regain enough control of his arm to motion to himself, the bike, Gonta, and the street again. He was slowly placed back down on the ground and gasped for air. He watched the smaller man wearily.

"Gonta confused, Miss," He said.

Chihiro went through the motions again, adding a small wave for both of their hands. Gonta's face immediately lit up.

"Gonta gets to go too?! Oh, Gonta so happy! Miss truly is good lady!" He ran down the streets in excitement. Chihiro couldn't fight the tiny smile that came to his face as he watched. Once Gonta started to pack up, Chihiro took to the streets himself, trying to find a large-enough bike that he could handle. Most of the garages and houses and gates were locked, and Chihiro felt squeamish by the thought of breaking into other people's homes, so he slowly left them alone.

By late afternoon, he gasped happily and clasped his hands together when he had come across exactly what he had been looking for.

A large red bike with big wheels that even had a basket and, of all the things, a shiny red horn. It was almost like it had been created just for him. Smiling, he wheeled the bike out next to his own green one and left it there, heading to the convenience store and getting a medium-sized tote bag of various foods they'd need. Mostly vegetables and fruits and more canned goods. He stared wistfully at a picture of a sliced and roasted ham, feeling his mouth start to water. He quickly recomposed himself and headed back outside to where their bicycles were, putting some of the food in his own basket when he felt the wind suddenly whip right by him.

Gonta had taken off at full speed on his bike, freaking out a bit but still looking excited. Chihiro gave him a smile and hopped on his own bike, pedaling rapidly down the hill and letting gravity do the rest as he finally caught up.

"Miss, where we go?" Gonta gasped out, having managed to take control of his bike.

Chihiro shrugged.

"We go anywhere?"

He nodded, though he had a feeling that 'anywhere' would likely be someplace in Hiroshima. But that wasn't for quite a while; they weren't even halfway there, after all.

They left the city later that afternoon and kept to the forest. Gonta became noticeably livelier at that, pedaling his bike faster and soon passing up Chihiro entirely, though Chihiro could still see him just fine due to his large size. The forest was still, and he found himself wondering if any animals were out. Well, Gonta would likely tell him. Gonta would tell him anything; he hadn't stopped talking ever since they got on the trial. Chihiro stopped looking at his lips for a while, his mind feeling foggy. He was just repeating the same things over and over again; Chihiro recognized the familiar shape and movement of his lips.

The sky turned purple and orange above them, streaming through the trees. Gonta eagerly suggested they make a camp and Chihiro just nodded along, parking their bikes beside a tree. He jiggled up and down slightly as he looked behind him and saw Gonta putting the finishing touches on the fire.

"We need to cook, Miss! Does Miss like roasted vegetables?" Gonta asked eagerly, pulling out some of their food. When Chihiro sat down, he handed him an opened can of ravioli. "Miss likes ravioli, right?"

He sighed and took out a spork, viciously stabbing the food and ripping into it with his teeth, getting sauce everywhere on his mouth.

Gonta couldn't help but to smile as he watched Miss do so, liking her healthy appetite. She had the appearance and personality of a small little rabbit; tiny, fearful, but cute. Yet she ate like a lion. What wasn't to admire about that?

Still, Gonta felt bad for Miss. She rarely smiled and stared off into space a lot, especially when he talked. Did Miss find him boring? He wished she could talk, maybe she desperately wanted to and add to their one-sided conversations, but since she was a mute she couldn't. And where did the eyepatch come from? Was Miss in a fight?

Miss finished up the ravioli and a banana as well, drinking from the canteen and giving him a curious look. He looked back at her and she gestured to the food, then to himself.

"Oh, Gonta not hungry. Gonta not eat much at night," He explained happily. Miss responded by placing a hand on her chest and burping loudly. "That means Miss satisfied with meal! Is Miss full now?"

He may not have been hungry, but he was awfully tired. However, Miss and her needs came first, and he wouldn't rest, literally, until he knew that she was satisfied.

Miss nodded and suddenly got an uncomfortable look on her face as she stood up, rubbing her knees together. She looked over at Gonta and just stared him down, making him blink.

"What wrong, Miss? Is Miss sick?"

She continued to stare, looking longingly at a group of bushes and a small tree behind them. Miss then dashed off in that direction, hiding behind the tree and pointing at him.

"Miss?" He started to walk over, but Miss gave him a distressed expression and motioned over to his current spot. After getting a thoughtful expression on her features, she motioned to the canteen, and then to her lower region. "Oh!" He gasped, blushing. "Sorry! Gonta not know you need to make water, Miss! Gonta be gentleman and not peek. Gonta set up our beds!"

Miss nodded gratefully and vanished behind the tree.

Gonta pulled their sleeping bags out of their bags and gently laid them down a few feet away from the fire so they wouldn't catch on fire. Well, he'd probably have to put that out anyway. They had only lit it to cook their food; it was far too hot to keep it burning. Due to the stillness and silence of the forest, he could still hear it crackling loudly, as well as a few nocturnal birds chirping quietly, and the splashing of water against the ground. He blushed at that and loudly started to shake out the sleeping bags, somehow accidentally tangling himself up in his.

Chihiro sighed in relief and buckled his overalls back on, leaving one side unbuckled to try and look presentable and headed back over to where Gonta was, his eye widening at the sight. Gonta was engaged in an intense wrestling match with his sleeping bag, which Chihiro giggled lightly at before he caught himself.

He walked over and just stared, unsure if Gonta actually needed his help or not.

"Miss! You're back!" Gonta gasped, finally bursting free of the bag with a gasp of air. "Gonta got sleeping bags!"

Chihiro nodded to indicate he could see that. He then walked over to his own, trying to climb into it when Gonta suddenly yanked him away, making him startle badly.

"Miss! You can't sleep in that!" Gonta pointed to Chihiro's current outfit. "Miss needs nightgown!"

He simply stared, shrugging. He had brought a few changes of clothes, but no pajamas. It didn't really seem like something important to him at the time.

"Gonta has a shirt Miss can borrow! Miss need it more than Gonta. Gonta don't wear pajamas much," He admitted, handing a button-up shirt to Chihiro in a shade of white. Chihiro continued to stare, slowly turning the fabric over in his hands over and over again. It'd be way too big for him... "Gonta put fire out now,"

Chihiro numbly walked back over to the tree he peed on earlier and slowly took off his clothes, rolling them up in a ball and slipping the shirt on, buttoning it up. It covered up his entire length; looking like some sort of modernist wedding gown. He managed to take a few steps away before the hem caught on something and he tumbled, falling down into the dirt. Gonta gasped and hurried over, noticing the tears forming in his eye. Chihiro kept his head down, feeling worthless. He barely registered as Gonta easily scooped him up and slipped him into his sleeping bag, tucking him in and zipping him up slightly.

"Goodnight, Miss! Gonta hopes you have good dreams! No bad dreams of creepy lady," He shivered a bit and Chihiro rolled over onto his side, suddenly shivering as well. He closed his eye and soon became dead to the world; he had no idea that Gonta remained awake for a few minutes more, putting out the fire and getting ready for bed himself before falling asleep in his sleeping bag, settling in.

* * *

Chihiro woke up with a shudder, sitting up in bed and panting heavily. What was his dream about...? Something having to do with the girl with the bear in her hair. That seemed to be all he dreamed about now; either her, or that mysterious girl in the kimono sitting on her porch with dull-coloured eyes. He vastly preferred the latter, even if it confused him just as much.

He rubbed the sleep away from his good eye and started to climb out of bed, freezing when he felt a soggy feeling underneath him.

Oh no. No, no, no, please no.

He gingerly set a hand down and felt the water squish under his touch, indicating it was still recent; warm too. He shuddered and teared up, noticing he had gotten Gonta's shirt wet in the process too. He looked over and noticed Gonta was still fast asleep. He couldn't hear him, but he was snoring extremely loudly, a sign he'd be asleep for at least a couple hours more.

There was a creek nearby, Chihiro recalled, as he gathered up his sleeping bag and his clothes from the other day and set off towards it. Once he arrived, he unbuttoned the shirt and threw it in first, soaking it before jumping in himself to rinse himself off the best he could.

Of course he'd wet the bed again, on top of everything else that was wrong with him. He hadn't done so since he was very little and tried to chalk it up to the stress of his current situation, but still begun to cry silently as he rinsed off. Gonta couldn't find out, he could never know. He already treated him like a glass doll, something precious that could break. He shuddered to think of what Gonta would do if he made this little discovery.

_Look, Fujisaki-chan wet the bed again!_

_She's so gross, pissing in it like that!_

_No wonder she has no friends!_

_The girls giggled around Chihiro as they yanked the covers off his bed that morning, noticing him flustered and trying to get away from something. He had only been in the orphanage for a few months and the combined stress was taking too much of a toll on him. Besides, he was still very young, what was he supposed to do?_

_It is Sister Maria!_

_Oh no!_

_The girls dispersed in fear and pretended they were making their beds while Chihiro sat there in his puddle, nightgown stained, tearing up. The nun, a young brunette with her hair kept in a blue veil and a matching habit, frowned at Chihiro, pursing her lips._

_Chihiro-san..._

_He flicked his eyes up in recognition at her, getting a hopeful expression on his features. Sister Maria was strict when she felt the need, but had a softness to her appearance that made Chihiro secretly hope she was only strict with troublemakers and would be soft with people who needed it. A smile formed on his face before he could stop it. He started to reach for the pad of paper he kept at his nightstand for that very reason; in case he needed to write something while he was still in bed._

_Crack!_

_His cheek stung bitterly where she had slapped it, and he just knew that the other girls were likely failing to contain their giggles and gasps. Sister Maria stared coldly at him._

_Do you know why this happened to you? Because you were born a sinner and you refuse to repent. This is your punishment. Perhaps if you paid more attention during lessons, you would not have this problem,_

_He teared up more, shaking his head since he couldn't say anything back to her. His hand twitched, wanting to reach for the paper again but knowing better._

_Clean this mess up. I expect a hundred-word paper from you this afternoon. It will read: 'I am a sinner and I repent. I wet my bed because I am lowly trash.'_

_She then turned on her heel to go, not even paying attention to the other girls. Chihiro bit his lip and slowly got out of bed, trying to yank the covers off._

Chihiro shook his head as he finished getting clean in the creek, throwing on his overall outfit he had been wearing for the past few days. He bit his lip as he was suddenly flooded with memories of that orphanage he spent a good deal of his life in, not wanting to cry about it again. He then looked down at the sleeping bag and chucked it into the water as well, using a rock to try and scrub out the stain from it.

"Miss! There Miss is!" Gonta ran over to Chihiro from the shadows, standing in front of him on the bank. He looked up in fright, his eye wide, realizing what he had been doing. The stain was mostly gone by that point, but he was still scrubbing out a sleeping bag in morning light. What else was he supposed to think was happening there?

He winced and continued to clean it off, keeping an eye on Gonta to see what his response would be and what he could say back, if anything.

"Oh, Miss sweat a lot in bed too? Gonta does that. Gonta happy he found someone else like that!" Gonta smiled widely. "And no worry about shirt. Gonta want Miss to have that shirt. She can sweat as much as she want!"

He paused in his scrubbing and just continued to stare at Gonta, finally tossing the rock away and shaking the sleeping bag out a bit.

"Miss want breakfast? Lots of riding today! Miss need energy!"

Chihiro recalled the nightmare and the sudden flashback and quickly shook his head, suddenly feeling sick. Eating was the last thing on his mind. He rolled up his sleeping bag and stuck it back into their pack, sitting back down on his bike.

Gonta followed after him and made sure he could see him properly. "Is Miss sure? Gonta no want Miss to get sick!"

He gave Gonta a weak smile he hoped was reassuring and started to pedal ahead, genuinely feeling fine.

After Gonta ate, the two continued to set out, and they had made good progress over the next two days. They were already halfway to Hiroshima.

"Gonta never gone this way before. Gonta never gone very far at all...is this the world?"

Chihiro tilted his head slightly in a curious way.

"World big. Is this like...world? Big and unknown?"

He finally managed a nod, and Gonta cheered.

"Yay! Gonta finally see world!"

The next time they stopped, Chihiro pulled out their map and traced his finger along the path they had traveled, making mental notes of it. Halfway there already.

God willing, they would make it to their destination in just a few more days, provided they had no more distractions. He was useless with most things, but at least he wasn't entirely hopeless with navigation.

Gonta was strangely right, in a way. They were in the world now. They themselves were the world. For all Gonta knew, Chihiro was the only person left alive. That was a very haunting thought to him, and it haunted him even more to know he might've had that same thought had he not seen Seiko recover with his own two eyes.

Though, perhaps she had just gotten sick again and perished a day after he left or something, and then he really would be the sole survivor of Osaka. Maybe the disease killed off everyone except those with simple minds and those who were deaf-mute.

With Chihiro's luck, he wouldn't doubt it for a second.


	4. Leon 1: Soldier and a Sage

**Leon Kuwata 1: Soldier and a Sage**

**####**

**Somewhere Near Yokohama; July 6th, 1994**

* * *

Leon had ditched his motorcycle a day or so ago in Ikebukuro and remained on foot for the rest of the time, hearing Kanon nagging at him for going too fast or too slow. Eventually he decided he couldn't take it anymore and just jumped off it, watching it roll itself right into a ditch and tip over, the engine still running loudly. He stared at it in disgust before throwing his gloves and helmet down too, watching the gloves get shredded by the wheels.

After standing there and watching for several minutes, he trudged on and decided his next goal was to still head east. Something was calling him there in a way he couldn't explain, he just knew he had to go.

His legs felt heavy, however, and everytime he closed his eyes, it'd either be a flash of the girl with the bear in her hair or Kanon's distressed face, bloody puke falling from her mouth. Eventually, he just gave up sleep altogether after a particularly vivid nightmare where he was chased through the station of Shinjuku by the girl with the bear in her hair, loudly singing his song in a tone-deaf way.

Where did he even plan on going? He just knew he was being beckoned to the east, but had no idea what actual city he was to head to. Was he just supposed to walk east continuously until he fell off the island?

After another day, he felt eyes on him and briefly looked around, wondering if the owner would be friendly or not.

"H-Hey...?" He called out weakly before losing his balance and collapsing right onto the sidewalk, hitting his head and falling asleep. He slept soundly for quite a while, only waking up once to slowly drag himself over to a shaded tree and curling up under it, the breeze being very relaxing on his sweaty and red neck and face.

"I don't think he's a threat," A woman's voice whispered, watching Leon sleep from the shadows. "He detects me, but he doesn't know where I am. If he were a threat, he'd try to seek me out and hurt me," She analyzed, studying him carefully. "Maybe he's a valuable partner..."

The boy by her side simply hid behind her leg, staring Leon down carefully. He looked more irritated by that idea than anything else, while Mukuro kept studying him.

"...Grown-up," He mumbled, now staring Mukuro down.

"Doesn't matter if he is or not. I need a traveling partner to get out of this city faster. Even staying here as long as I already have to resupply myself..." She trailed off, looking away.

The two watched Leon for a time before the sun started to set and Taro motioned to his mouth, opening it. Mukuro nodded in understanding and with a final look at Leon, headed back to the tiny blue house they were currently taking shelter in, a plastic white shower curtain hung in place of the front door because it was missing when they came across it originally. Mukuro took out the last of the sushi rolls and rice balls and handed half to Taro, who ate slowly. She took a few bites herself before she felt full and stuffed the rest back into her pack, swallowing down a few drinks of water. She knew she'd be back in the morning, keeping an eye on Leon. Maybe he'd move on along and never see her. Maybe he'd grow curious enough and try to follow her back, stumbling upon their house.

No matter how it happened, she had the strong feeling they would meet the next day.

* * *

Leon woke up and stretched a bit under the tree, shaking when he realized he didn't feel the steady eyes watching him anymore. What kind of a messed-up world did he have to live in that the feeling of nobody watching him freaked him out? The current world, evidently.

He rinsed himself off in the nearby stream and set off walking, feeling more relaxed and eager than he had the past few days. Perhaps he could make actual progress that day.

As he walked along, it wasn't until he made several miles when he finally realized he could feel the eyes on him, and paused.

"Come on out! I'm not afraid!" He still had a gun hidden in his pack anyway. If the person meant trouble, he could deal with it easily.

The owner of the eyes eventually hurried out of the shadows and stood a few feet away from Leon, taking him in. Leon did the same, widening his eyes as he wasn't expecting the mysterious watcher to be a cute girl! She had pale violet eyes and very short black hair that was shiny as well as a sprinkling of freckles across her face. She wore a simple white tank top with blue jeans and black laced-up platform boots and matching black gloves. On her back were several guns, and around her waist and thigh were several knives and grenades. Leon chuckled a bit nervously at that sight. The chick was armed, and likely knew how to use that stuff.

"Kuwata Leon. A pleasure to meet you," He smiled easily, offering her a handshake instead of a bow. She gingerly took it before looking away. "Your name?"

"Ikusaba. Ikusaba Mukuro," She answered curtly. The name didn't sound familiar to him, but he figured that was a good thing. How awkward would it be to find your future traveling partner was an old ex of yours? "I am just looking for a partner to travel with,"

"Same!" Leon exclaimed. "Why not the two of us? Since we bumped into each other, it must be fate..."

"Wait...I know you," Her eyes widened a bit. "Break up with your man, he ain't no good for you girl. Get with me, girl, get with me. 'Cuz he ain't no good for ya,"

"A fan, huh?"

"No." She turned to look at him. "Where are you going?"

"East." He shrugged. Mukuro nodded.

"So am I,"

A small blue-haired boy peeked out from behind her leg, giving Leon an untrustworthy glance. He wore ripped-off blue jeans with black Converse and a lacy cardigan with nothing underneath it. Leon stared at him curiously, not feeling threatened. He instead wondered if he was Mukuro's son. They didn't look alike at all, but that stuff could come from the father. She also didn't look matronly; her breasts were almost non-existent and her entire figure was unhealthily thin and bony. Why else would she have a child with her though?

"Let's go," Mukuro just walked ahead and Leon walked with her, flashing her a smile.

"So, who were you before the world ended, darling?" He flirted.

"A soldier. I was actually stationed in Iraq," She looked at her hands.

"Oh, so you know how to use a gun?" He glanced down at the kid again, who was staring up at Mukuro. "So, he yours?"

She briefly looked over at that and shook her head. "I found him in a store a few days ago when I was supplying myself. He was just eating candy. Something about him...I took him for myself. He can't talk much, so I don't know his name. I just call him Taro-chan and he responds," It was simple enough to her. In her line of work, coming across lost, displaced, or orphaned children was common enough and many didn't know or even have names. As a result, the boys were referred to as Yamada Taro and the girls as Yamada Hanako until they could find more information. She never questioned why they were all given Japanese names, she just went along with it.

"Not yours then," Leon sighed in relief. "I mean, you look fairly young anyway. Too young to have a kid as old as him! How old are you?"

"Twenty-four," The road started to smooth out under their feet and she heard birds calling.

"A year shy of being a Christmas cake, huh? What do you say I change that for you?" Leon grinned again, feeling more confident knowing they were both the same age.

Mukuro just eyed him carefully.

They reached a small beach and sat in the sand, eating and taking a break. Taro shifted a bit uncomfortably on the sand, while Leon tried to offer Mukuro some of the cheese-crackers he had saved.

"When was the last time you ate something processed?!" He tried to tease, handing her one anyway. Mukuro stared at it curiously before eventually nibbling on it. "Speaking of which, what's today? The seventh?" If he left Shinjuku on the fourth, and had been traveling for a few days, then it made sense for it to be the seventh. He jumped up. "The seventh...today is Tanabata then! We should do something! We should..." He trailed off.

"You have a guitar in your pack," Mukuro observed, adjusting her position. Leon nodded.

"Yeah...I do. I brought it with me on a whim." He sat back down and pulled it out. "You tellin' me you want to hear some love songs? I think I even have some trashy pop memorized if you're into that," He smirked and strummed the strings.

Mukuro pulled out a small notebook and pen from her bag as Leon continued to strum. She carried the notebook with her just in case she needed to write instructions down, but figured this was as good of a use as any. In Leon's case, she thought numbly. Leon started to sing a rock song from twenty years ago as she scrawled her wish on the paper, handing an empty one to Leon.

"We'd need to hang them on bamboo," He reminded her as he wrote down his own. She continued to stare and put the notebook away. "I guess now though, any old tree would do," He continued to sing for the next few minutes, going through as many songs as he could think of. Mukuro thought he wasn't the best at singing, but a surprisingly good guitar player. He probably dreamed of being a rock star and making it big before the disease hit. How ironic, she thought.

Taro grew tired and fell asleep with his head resting on her lap, and she drank some more water. Clouds darkened overhead, but it never rained. Leon and Mukuro traveled the length of the beach, finding a tiny bush and slowly tying their wishes to it.

"I hope the magpies see it," Leon sighed before groaning. "Ugh, I swear I'm not always this sentimental! It's just...my family, man. Two years ago we got together for Tanabata and I even got to take my girl at the time. She accidentally spilled the somen on her yukata and cried. But Kanon-chan cheered her up by getting her a bag of goldfish. Fuck, I just...this is bogus. Absolutely bogus,"

The waves rushed past quietly as the sun finished setting. The pair took a sudden chill and Mukuro glanced around the empty beach, seeing a few loose umbrellas permanently tied down to the sand, nobody to remove or enjoy them. She briefly thought about asking Leon what his wish was before mentally scolding herself. She didn't actually care. And Leon probably wouldn't tell her anyway.

They camped out on the beach that night, and continued heading east the next morning, Mukuro eating the last of Leon's cheese-crackers while he ate some of her rice balls.

* * *

They approached a smaller city near the edge of Nagoya later that afternoon, finding it deserted with a few government cars parked at the entrance, bright orange in their warning.

"They must've tried to quarantine the place," Mukuro commented as a few drops of rain hit the group.

Leon shivered as he suddenly thought of Kanon and looked away. More fat raindrops hit him and he winced, wishing he had the forethought to bring an umbrella with him. He glanced around and noticed they had entered a residential part of town and had a sudden flashback to that girl from Nagoya he slept with before he took Kanon out to the movies. Geezh, was that really only two weeks ago? It felt like an eternity ago. Did that girl live in one of these houses? Or did she live closer to the main part of the city? If he asked her, he certainly didn't recall her answer.

"We're going to need to find something to travel faster on. 'Cuz I don't want to keep walking around in rainy season like this," Leon addressed the two. Mukuro kept looking away. "I'd suggest a car, but a lot of roads are probably blocked, so maybe a...motorcycle or something,"

"I can walk," Mukuro pointed in a random direction. "Look at that roof,"

"What roof?" He asked, looking around. "I don't see anything special,"

Mukuro kept pointing, and eventually Leon rolled his eyes in annoyance and continued walking, soon finding a blue house with a slanted roof instead of a flat roof like its neighbors had; written on it in bright white paint were clear directions to a disease facility in Yokohama and two names written on it. He glanced back at Mukuro. "Whoa, how'd you see that?"

She just stared at him, and curiosity overtook him as he went over to the house and noticed a garage left open. The garage had white paint stored inside, as well as an empty can of Diet Coke. He assumed that was from the mysterious Yamada Hifumi who painted the barn. Or maybe it was Maizono Sayaka? Ah, what a gorgeous name that was. He suddenly hoped the two would cross paths on their journey; he was picturing her as a teeny-tiny idol type, with spring-coloured hair and smell and perkiness. Yamada Hifumi, on the other hand...all his mind could picture was an extremely-typical-looking Japanese business man, in his mid-thirties likely. With a name like that, what else was he supposed to imagine? But maybe Yamada Hifumi was interesting as well. He certainly had guts for wanting to paint that up there in the first place.

Before he left the garage, he took notice of a small umbrella painted underneath the tiny window; painted in pink and blue instead of white, likely so it wouldn't disappear into the garage's white walls. It was a simply-drawn umbrella, and underneath it were the names Maizono Sayaka and Yamada Hifumi. Leon just nodded at that and left. So Yamada Hifumi had developed himself a bit of a crush, eh? He couldn't fault him for that. If things continued to go his way, the elusive Mukuro might be his as well.

"Motorcycles. Can you drive one, darling?" He asked Mukuro, finding her giving some rice balls to Taro. She shrugged.

"I can learn. I think we'd make better time on foot though. Someone might steal our motorcycles,"

"Well, if something like that happens, I promise I'll protect you," He smirked, and the trio went down into the main part of the city and indeed found two sleek and shiny black motorcycles parked outside of a dealership, almost as if they were waiting for them. Mukuro easily sat down on hers and revved it up slightly, while Taro watched her carefully. "You want to go slow," Leon called over to her as he picked out his own. "And wear a lot of safety gear,"

She stared over at him and revved her motorcycle up again, making sure Taro was tightly holding onto her before she sped off, tearing down the road. Leon facepalmed and raced after her, soon catching up.

"I said not to do that!" He scolded. "I thought a girl like you would be good at following orders, but I guess not,"

Mukuro didn't respond, instead kept staring straight ahead. She noticed a line of traffic cones and easily tried to swerve past them, only to turn too hard and dip the bike, making her fall right off it and slide on the ground. She widened her eyes as she beheld the fabric scraped off her gloves and pants, revealing red bruising.

"Damn it!" Leon slowed his bike to a stop and jumped off, heading over to her. "See, you're hurt! Stupid," Taro watched them carefully, trembling a bit from the wipe-out.

"I have a first-aid kit," She said, pointing to her backpack. Leon sighed in relief and pulled out some sanitizer and bandages, dripping the sanitizer onto her scrapes and tying the bandage around them. Mukuro didn't even flinch once as the medicine burned its way into her system. "You care too much,"

Leon remained silent at that and slowly picked Mukuro's bike up, looking at the horizon. "That's enough for today, anyway,"

"...Thanks," Taro suddenly whispered, making both Leon and Mukuro start and glance over at him. "Thanks,"Taro shrugged and motioned to the first-aid kit, then to Mukuro, then to Leon. He then grew bored and skipped off, looking for a suitable place for them to sleep that night.

"He spoke." Mukuro said. "It wasn't even prompted,"

"Maybe he was just glad I took care of you? You likely suffered from all kinds of injuries before I came along!" He bragged.

They left their motorcycles parked near the entrance to the city and camped a few feet away, Leon having a tent that time. He carefully pitched it and both him and Mukuro got inside, Taro choosing adamantly to sleep outside for whatever reason. Leon was done questioning his behavior.

"So, a soldier, huh?" He asked once the two were secured in their tents. She slept a few feet away from him on the other side of the tent, not using a sleeping bag or anything.

"Yes. Do you not believe me or something?" She eyed him.

"No, I believe you. It's just...you don't seem like the type who'd care about children that much,"

"Like I said, there's something about him...besides...we saw children a lot...war orphans and the like...we had to take care of them,"

"I see," Leon chuckled nervously. Mukuro was the same age as him and had already seen so much death and bloodshed and battle. No wonder she was so unfazed by everything around her. "So, any relatives before?"

"My parents, but they didn't pay much attention to me. And I barely saw them after I completed my training. My twin sister, but she traveled a lot, so," She shrugged. "My parents succumbed, last I heard, but my sister survived I think,"

"Interesting," He secretly hoped her sister was a fraternal twin and not an identical twin.

"Why do you care about me so much? I can take care of myself," She looked at him for that question, her violet eyes prying deep into his soul.

"I...I escaped Shinjuku with my cousin. Back then, I always thought she was determined, but annoying and hotheaded. She got sick but we escaped anyway before she succumbed to it," He sighed. "She was my cousin, you know? The last member of my family...and I felt like I really mistreated her,"

"I see."

Leon couldn't figure out what sort of emotion was meant by that phrase, so he ignored it.

"Before the disease hit, I wanted to make it big as a rock star. I had dreams, man. Big dreams of touring across both Japan and America. Even my song had promise, it was only seventy-eighth in the charts but it could've climbed! They played that song everywhere! If only the plague hadn't hit!" He explained. "I would've had groupies and roadies, the whole deal!"

Mukuro nodded. "You had that look to you. You seemed like a wanna-be rocker,"

"There's nothing wanna-be about it! I walked the walk and talked the talk. I had potential," He leaned a bit closer to her, touching her hand. "But I'm glad that I ran into you. It's almost like a second chance in a way. Helps that you're pretty cute too,"

She stared at him and moved a bit, taking her hand away.

"Don't you wanna? Even just once? You can tell your sister that you banged a famous rocker," He smirked. "I'll give you what I like to call 'Thousand Knocks', because that's how many times your head will hit the headboard!"

"No thank you." She responded curtly, staring him down. "My sister though...I think you two would get along great,"

"So, she likes rockers?"

"I guess." Mukuro shrugged. "But...not the two of us. I can't explain it. But not us,"

Leon sighed greatly, but held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, I can take a hint. Mostly because I know your knives will if I don't. But it doesn't matter. I was mostly just teasing you anyway. I meant what I said about you being cute,"

Mukuro didn't respond, and soon Leon found himself falling asleep, turning his back over to her.

That night, he dreamed one of the strange dreams again. Not the one with the girl with the bear in her hair, but a different one, the good one, the comforting one.

Mukuro and Taro were with him, and they held either side of his hands as they stepped through the rice paddies together, Leon thinking about how soaked his shoes were getting. Taro noticed the slide first thing and almost hurried over to it before he caught himself at the last second and slipped his hands into his pockets.

The girl sitting on the porch seemed to recognize his hesitance and gave him a warm smile, motioning over to the slide. "You can play on it if you want,"

"Who are you?" Leon questioned as Taro darted off to go play. The girl wore a bright yellow furisode decorated with chickens and a matching bow on the side of her hair. That night, she was holding a shamisen.

"Lady Nanami...or Miss Chiaki, that's what they call me around here. I'm fifteen-years-old, blind, and all I know how to make are rice balls...hey, come see me too, alright? Bring your friends and come see me. I'll make dinner,"

"A blind chick? Seriously? How is a blind chick going to cook anything for anyone?" Leon demanded. Chiaki pouted in a cute way.

"Don't be rude..." She then looked over at Mukuro. "Big Sister Mukuro, please be careful. You've already been touched by _her_...if you're not careful...she'll corrupt you further. You have a good heart, you can be a good person, I just know it..."

Mukuro suddenly winced and glared at Chiaki. "What do you know about her? You don't know anything about her! Just leave me out of this, alright?" She yelled. "I won't be corrupted by anything if I'm just careful enough!"

Chiaki pouted more. "Where are you going? Yokohama? I don't live there, I am in Hiroshima,"

"It's just a quick trip," Mukuro replied defensively.

"Big Brother Leon is a good man, a good person...I think. Why don't you stay with him? You're just using him, Big Sister Mukuro. Don't do that. Be a good person and do the right thing..."

"No! Stay out of my head!" Mukuro cried, clutching it and nearly collapsing. "We're going to Yokohama, whether you like it or not, you crazy girl!"

Chiaki pouted again, not arguing with her further and turning her attention back to Leon. She plucked a few strings on her shamisen.

"Just be careful. Don't give into temptation, and always follow your heart. You all have the potential to be good people. And come see me whenever you can. Others will be here too, I promise. People just like you..."

* * *

Leon woke up the next morning to find Mukuro and Taro outside of the tent, finishing up their breakfast. He noticed she had orange juice with her and eagerly strode over, wondering where she had managed to hide that.

"So, Yokohama today?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I think we could make good time if we don't stop for all of today and part of tomorrow morning. Which is good. We probably shouldn't stop so much anyway."

After breakfast, they got motorcycle helmets at the outfitter's and refilled their supplies before hopping on and racing away, this time managing to dodge all of the cones in the middle of the road. They remained silent as they drove; the motorcycles being too loud to hear anything anyway.

As they passed one of the city lines, they took a short break for lunch and for Leon to smoke a cigarette when Taro suddenly perked up and dashed behind Mukuro, pointing to something off in the distance.

"Grown-up," He insisted, pointing in that direction.

"Where?" Leon looked in the distance and squinted, not seeing anything.

"I see her. It's a girl," Mukuro said in amazement.

"Seriously? Another girl?!"

"Hello there! Hello? Oh, are you survivors too?" The girl waved as she came up to them, sighing in relief. "Oh, finally, survivors! I'm so pleased to finally meet your acquaintance! I'm Akamtasu Kaede, nice to meet you," She bowed politely.

And that was how Kaede joined their group.

* * *

Kaede chatted eagerly to Leon as they waited for Mukuro to come back with supplies from Kaede's house; some clothes and extra food, as well as a picture of her family. Leon curiously asked her who was in the portrait.

"My husband and daughter,"

He choked.

"Bleeding disease, they called it where I'm from. It took them so quickly, I don't think they even realized what happened," Kaede sighed. "But, I'm sure they're in the afterlife now, peaceful and free of suffering,"

"So, um...you look awfully young to be married already," Leon blew some smoke out of his mouth.

"I'm twenty-five...I got married two years ago. Family pressure. They picked the man and everything. Valentine's Day, we welcomed our darling Hana-chan. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad either. I sometimes wonder how I survived it. Surely I'm not a good enough person to be spared..." She trailed off as she noticed Mukuro hurrying over to them, handing her a white backpack. "Thank you very much!" She bowed in appreciation and slipped it onto her shoulders. "So, where are you guys going?"

"Yokohama. There's a disease research facility there and we believe there's probably people there," Mukuro explained. "Immune ones, like us,"

Kaede clasped her hands together. She had striking blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and kept in place with little clips shaped like music notes; how quaint. She wore a long black vintage skirt printed with flowers that covered her ankles, chunky black boots, a black shawl, and a lacy white push-up bra. "I'd love to come! Well, I don't have much of a choice, but you know. It sounds plausible, you know?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah. That's our reasoning too," He finally put his cigarette out and the group started to walk. He looked over at Kaede's warm smile and wondered how'd he got so lucky to be traveling with two beautiful women and not just one. Well, Kaede was a widow. Damn, only a year older than him and she was. And Mukuro was a soldier.

He secretly hoped Maizono Sayaka was more innocent and inexperienced.

* * *

"Oh, I just think you'd look darling in this!" Kaede pulled out a schoolgirl outfit and thrust it into Mukuro's face. "You would look so cute!"

The girls decided to make a brief stop to change clothes; though it was more Kaede's idea, as she hadn't changed her outfit at all.

"I'm not one for fashion," Mukuro declined, shaking her head. "I like my current clothes,"

"At least try it on," Kaede suggested, and Mukuro took the outfit from her and disappeared into the back of the store, coming back wearing a plaid blue micromini, black tights, black heels, and a dark blue cardigan over a white blouse that emphasized her breasts quite well. A tiny blue bow was on the side of her head.

Leon whistled as Mukuro posed a bit. "Damn, you rock that!"

"I think she looks so pretty!" Kaede smiled in agreement. "I even picked one to fit her colour scheme,"

"But...this is impractical. You can't fight or run in this," Mukuro commented before she started to yank the top off, revealing a plain black bra. Kaede gasped and ran over.

"Wait, wait, no! You can't do that in front of Leon-san!" She cried out, desperately pulling the cardigan back onto Mukuro. "Just wear it for a little bit, alright? You might change your mind,"

"Whatever," Mukuro sighed. "I won't. But arguing about it like this wastes our precious time, so..."

Kaede smiled again.

* * *

They arrived at the disease research facility around two in the morning in the middle of July; Kaede jokingly said the chilly air and time of night made her feel a bit creepy. Leon ignored her and went on ahead, ignoring his own shivers. It was a research facility...yet they weren't _this_ silent, were they? Or empty of people? Surely there'd be at least one guard standing outside to check them in and prevent people from causing trouble. But there wasn't anyone.

"Look!" Kaede walked over to the sigh and put her hand on it, motioning to the jagged white characters painted over older red ones.

**EVERYONE DEAD**

**GO HOME**

**STAY ON OUR ROUTE**

**WE ARE HEADING TO HIROSHIMA**

**LEFT JULY 8TH, 1994**

**JUST WATCH FOR SIGNS**

**YAMADA HIFUMI**

**MAIZONO SAYAKA**

**NAEGI MAKOTO**

**HAGAKURE YASUHIRO**

Below that was another detailed address to follow. Leon whistled lowly.

"Yamada-san, you've done it again," He said to himself. If he truly ever did meet the man, he'd have to get him a Diet Coke or something, provided they still existed.

"Oh no!" Kaede cried out, and even Taro seemed distressed. When Leon turned around, his eyes widened.

"The fuck?!"

Mukuro had passed out onto the parking lot.


	5. Chihiro 2: On the Road Again

**Chihiro Fujisaki 2: On the Road Again**

**Okoyama; July 10th; 1994**

* * *

Everything just wanted to get on his nerves that day. The sun was too hot and beat down on him endlessly, making him sweat heavily. His legs hurt from so much pedaling. His stomach sloshed around painfully, burning and tearing at his insides. He tried to stifle a yawn, wondering how many bags were under his good eye. Did he look like trash? He _felt_ like trash.

Beside him, Gonta was loudly singing the lyrics to a famous rock song he heard on the radio once for the fifteenth time; Chihiro couldn't hear him but he had committed what his lips looked like to memory.

"He just ain't no good for ya, girl, so get with me. Get with me, girl, and break up with him, 'cuz he just ain't no good for ya!" Gonta finished happily, taking a look at Chihiro. He carefully poked him to get him to look over. "Is Miss okay? Miss look sick,"

Chihiro managed to give Gonta a nod and a drunken smile before he leaned forward too far on his bike and immediately fell off, slamming himself onto the road. Gonta gasped and ran right over to him.

"Miss! Miss_ is_ sick!" He cried, carefully scooping Chihiro up. He moaned in pain, feeling his left elbow ache. "Gonta should've paid better attention to Miss!"

He moaned again and started to close his eye before forcing himself to stay awake with a pinch. Gonta set him down underneath a bridge and carefully wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.

"Miss tired and hungry. Miss need food and rest!" He decided.

_Please...please don't let me fall asleep..._

Chihiro moaned again and fell over on his side, trembling under the blanket.

"Here!" Gonta came back over and handed Chihiro an opened can of chicken noodle soup. He shook his head weakly at it, but Gonta kept holding it out to him. "Miss need food!"

_Don't let me fall asleep...don't let me fall asleep, please..._ Chihiro silently pleaded, feeling shivers run down his spine. If he fell asleep, then he'd be completely at the mercy of the girl with the bear in her hair, who took to tormenting him as revenge for turning down her offer. Now she replayed various childhood memories, each one more traumatic than the last. He would wet the bed afterwards due to being so terrified, and eventually decided to just forego sleep altogether. The less he slept, the less nightmares he had, the less time in the morning he had to spend secretly cleaning himself off before Gonta woke up, a win-win situation.

"Gonta sorry, Miss..." Gonta trailed off, and Chihiro weakly looked up at him and barely processed a spoon being shoved in front of his face. He turned his face away from it, but the spoon just followed him. "Miss!"

Chihiro shook his head and started to yawn, seizing up when the spoon was shoved into his open mouth. He gingerly swallowed the food and sighed, somehow feeling a thousand times better already.

Gonta perked up and continued to feed Chihiro, who only accepted the offered food in tiny bites.

"When was last time Miss ate?" Gonta questioned, and Chihiro shrugged. Probably around the last time he slept as well, but he had no way of knowing for sure. His brain felt like a fried egg...yummy, a fried tamago in beef noodles with leeks...

Once Chihiro finished eating, he curled up into a ball and continued trembling, feeling exhausted but not having enough courage to sleep. She would just torment him again.

"Miss have bad dreams? Gonta has those too! Almost every night...it's_ her,_ isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Gonta stay here, awake. Gonta protect Miss from bad dreams!" He promised, sitting by Chihiro's side and pulling him close to him. Chihiro stifled another yawn and tried to shift away from Gonta, but he maintained a tight grip on him. "No worry, Miss. Gonta protect you!" He insisted.

Finally realizing he had no real choice, Chihiro gave in and slowly curled up into a ball, falling fast asleep in Gonta's arms.

* * *

The next day, they rode past a temple and out of curiosity, Chihiro parked his bike and hurried up the steps, motioning for Gonta to remain where he was. The temple was built near the top of a large hill and Chihiro was almost panting on his knees once he reached the top, but his eyes widened once he calmed down enough to look around.

Somehow, the temple grounds remained untouched, and a zen garden was placed in the center; once perfectly maintained. He nervously stepped up to the main shrine and looked around, noticing no charms were for sale. The wind blew harmlessly past the empty board. A broom was leaning up against the front door; no black-haired shrine maiden to sweep her home down anymore.

Chihiro suddenly felt sad and fished around in his pockets, coming up with a simple two-hundred yen coin. He tossed it into the donations box and stared ahead; not hearing the empty clink it made as it hit the bottom harmlessly. He rang the bell and clasped his hands together, praying for a safe journey forward, figuring it was as good as anything to pray for. He then walked down the stairs and nodded to Gonta, and they set off again.

"Gonta never knew Miss was religious!" Gonta said in awe.

_I'm not...there's nothing wrong with paying your respects,_ Chihiro thought wordlessly.

* * *

They were only a few cities away from their destination by mid-July. The buildings had slowly turned more old-fashioned and more and more farms were spotted. Civilization still existed, of course, proven when one particular day, Gonta announced loudly that he had found something.

Chihiro looked around, swaying a bit, before he shaded his eye and found a white vending machine tucked under a striped Veranda.

"Miss think it work? Gonta hopes so! Gonta know Miss no like canned food!" Gonta was already walking over to it, and Chihiro followed after him, tilting his head curiously. "Sandwiches!"

Chihiro got closer and saw that indeed, the vending machine supplied all different kinds of sandwiches. He followed the electrical cord with his eye; it was plugged in, but the light inside wasn't on. He frowned and took a step back. The sandwiches might've gone off by that point, and eating them might sicken them greatly, or even kill them.

"Gonta break it open. Stay away, Miss!" Gonta warned, suddenly becoming super-charged with energy and punching the machine hard. It rattled and fell right over onto its side; spilling out its contents despite still being plugged in. Chihiro blinked in amazement and slight fear. Gonta could very easily do that to him if he ever annoyed him enough... "Take what you want, Miss!"

He nodded and picked up the first sandwich he saw, unwrapping it and just biting into it. It tasted sour and tangy and strong, but he ate it rapidly and bit his lip, trying to ignore the taste.

"Miss can eat again!" Gonta cheered. "Here, more!" He shoved two more sandwiches into Chihiro's face, who balked.

He shouldn't have eaten even one...his stomach had a slight pain in it. Gonta was already on his second, and seeing his excited face that he was able to eat again broke his heart. He finally nodded and took the sandwiches from Gonta, swallowing them down.

"They taste good, Miss?" He asked eagerly, and Chihiro managed to force a smile to his face. He shuddered as he felt the sandwiches drop into his stomach and fester there.

* * *

Starting around five that morning and continuing on for the remainder of the foreseeable morning, the two had gotten so sick they had trouble moving at times due to their stomach cramps. Gonta in particular didn't want to ride his bike anymore, instead walking beside it as he sweated buckets. Chihiro would've almost found it amusing if he hadn't gotten sick too, all because he couldn't tell Gonta to stop giving him sandwiches. In a way, he deserved what had happened to him.

"We rest now, Miss?" Gonta asked weakly as they approached another empty town. Chihiro nodded and Gonta sighed in relief, dropping his bike right on the ground and collapsing onto a bench, soon falling asleep. Chihiro stared at him briefly before he tried to think about their next plan.

Medicine was out of the question, as it was always better to let things like this naturally run their course. It's what the doctors always said, after all! Still, they were on a tight-enough schedule as it was, and Chihiro really didn't have enough time to wait around for both of them to feel better. Maybe there was something else he could give to Gonta that would ease his stomach. He wasn't worried about himself; he was tiny and knew the sickness was likely already on its way out for him. Gonta, though, he'd likely have at least another day or two. And those were days he couldn't afford for them to lose.

The first thing he thought of was yogurt, but anything he'd be able to find would likely be badly spoiled, which was what got them into this mess in the first place. Juice, maybe? Or tea? There had to be _something_ he could give him.

Trying to instill himself with some confidence, he looked around and found a convenience store just across the street, and perked up. That was easy enough. He took a few unsteady steps towards it before a sudden sharp pain stabbed at his stomach, making him wince and collapse to the ground, curled-up and clutching his stomach.

He laid like that for the next few minutes until the pain had subsided enough to allow him to walk, so with a deep breath, he very slowly stood up and walked over to the store, pushing open the doors.

The store inside smelled of stale heat, expired food, and an overwhelming expensive perfume that was layered. Chihiro covered his nose with his elbow, gagging violently at the smell before he caught himself. It was just the summer air, nothing else. And he wouldn't even be in there long.

What would soothe Gonta's stomach, if he couldn't get yogurt? Tea, maybe. Maybe they had a bottle of it still available, which he hoped for, since Chihiro didn't really have the time, resources, or patience to make it himself. He searched through the first aisle of shelves, nearly falling into them when his stomach painfully clenched again and half of the products fell off onto the floor. A bottle of vitamins rolled away and the cap popped off, spilling them everywhere.

Chihiro then went down another aisle, slowly shuffling past a figure of a china doll before he paused. Why would a china doll figurine be in a convenience store, let alone a life-size one? Advertisement? He glanced back and saw a young woman staring back at him in absolute disbelief.

Her orange eyes were wide as saucers, and her golden hair was pulled back into a ponytail tied with a large black scrunchie. She wore the top half of what used to be a carnation pink kimono; only the obi remained, the dark pink bow tied into a perfect butterfly shape. Her lower half was clad in ripped jean shorts tiny enough to be mistaken for underwear, white tabi, and ridiculously tall red geta. A fan that matched her kimono was tucked into her belt, and Chihiro wondered if it was real or just for decoration. She was also far taller than Chihiro himself was, with an extremely buxom and filled-out figure. She smelled like three different types of perfume, as well as a faint one of sweat, and even fainter; cherry-blossoms.

In her hands was a bottle of perfume, which she dropped in shock. It shattered and filled the store with a hothouse smell similar to a funeral parlor. Chihiro politely looked away and belched into his elbow.

"You're real, right? You better not be playing a mean joke on me. You're a real person, right?" She demanded, looking ready to cry.

Chihiro tried to regain his composure, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He swallowed sickly and gave her a firm nod.

"Then say something! Say something to me and prove you _are_ real!"

He blushed a bit and pointed to his mouth, making a slashing motion. She continued to glare at him in annoyance, and he suddenly felt her predicament. If only he could actually talk and actually tell her; he knew if he tried to get closer to her she'd likely bolt. She kept staring at him, seemingly waiting for something, so he did the motion again, hoping she understood it that time.

"Wait..." Her features briefly softened before they hardened again. "You're a mute?! Are you shitting me?! A fucking mute?!" She laughed bitterly. "The first person I see in over two weeks, and it's some deaf chick! Are you kidding me right now?!"

He just shrugged and tried to offer her a non-threatening smile. She glanced back and her expression indicated she was just then seeing him.

"Actually, I don't care. Gotta take what you're given, huh? Hm. You're cute. I don't even mind that you're a girl. You're super cute," She stepped closer to him. "I am Saionji Hiyoko, heiress to my clan. Nice to meet you," She bowed lowly, making sure Chihiro got a peek down her kimono at her large cleavage. She smirked. "What's your name? Oh, wait, you can't actually tell me, can you? Oh, poor you! Maybe I'll just call you piglet. Like a little baby pig. It suits you, huh?"

He politely looked away from her cleavage, swallowing a bit. His face felt hot. How old even was this girl? She certainly acted like a teenager. She had moved even closer to him, making sure her breasts brushed against his arm.

Chihiro took a few steps back from her and pulled out his notebook, his face on fire. Hiyoko moved closer and watched him in fascination as his writing became more slanted. He briefly looked at her as he gave her his note, noticing her perky nipples poking through her kimono. She wasn't even wearing a bra...

"Hm?" Hiyoko tilted her head slightly in curiosity as he handed her the note, and she read it quickly.

_I am Fujisaki Chihiro. I'm deaf and mute. I'm traveling with a simple-minded guy named Gokuhara Gonta. He can't understand a lot of what I mean unless I act out simple things. We're both heading to Hiroshima because we think other survivors are there. You may come, if you'd like._

She nodded, starting to say something before she stared at Chihiro strangely. "Can you read lips?" She asked slowly, smiling brightly when Chihiro nodded. "Oh, yay! Finally, people came to get me! It's like a dream come true!" She threw up her hands and started to happily spin around the store. "It's time for me to blow this shithole anyway. I already ate all of the gummies at any store I could find...and all of the sugar-stars! And the power's been off, so it's super spooky and scary at night now! I don't even care that the people who found me are a deaf-mute and a retard!" She twirled back around, revealing she had tears in her eyes. "You know, I've been all alone here. I _was_ heiress, but my parents died a few weeks ago. Grandma too. They all just died, like the selfish pricks they are, and left me here..." She sniffled, sobbing. She looked at Chihiro.

He stared at her carefully, his hands on his chest. His heart wouldn't stop hammering.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're here now, Big Sister!" She threw herself into Chihiro's arms, sobbing, her knees on the floor. "Nobody's been around to brush my hair or buy me candy or play games with me...I've been so lonely and afraid..."

He slowly put his hands on her shoulders, trying to offer her a smile.

When she finally looked up at him, her tears had miraculously dried and a mischievous smirk had replaced them. "Speaking of which...want to play a game with me, Big Sister? It's a fun game, I promise. I'll even let you win! My friends and I all loved to play this together!"

Chihiro blinked his eye as he watched her slowly stand up, her breasts bouncing succulently under her kimono. He forced himself to look away, but Hiyoko grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes. "It won't take too long, Big Sister. I promise. It'll be fun, you'll love it, I swear!"

And then she planted a kiss right on his lips.

He blushed madly, trying to squirm away.

_I can't believe this is happening,_ was all he could think as he gawped at her.

Hiyoko kept her eyes on him and kissed him harder, shoving her tongue inside. Chihiro closed his eye and trembled, not liking the feeling. When she finally pulled away, there was a long trail of spit attached.

"Come on, Big Sister, don't be such a spoil-sport," She pouted childishly, pushing Chihiro against the counter and grabbing his crotch firmly. He gasped in surprise as she smirked. "Oh, what's this? I wasn't expecting my big sister to actually be...my big _brother_! Emphasis on the big!"

He shook his head and tried to get away, throwing his hands out to try and push her away. Instead of her shoulders, however, his hands found her breasts, and all resistance left as his mind clouded. Hiyoko snickered.

"That's more like it, Big Brother...just lie back. I swear you'll enjoy it. When else are you going to have sex with a girl as hot as me?! I mean, just because you can't talk, doesn't mean you can't fuck, right?!"

With that, she gave Chihiro another kiss and pushed him down onto the floor, straddling him. His eye widened in panic, but she shook her head at him.

"I'm taking herbs, it's perfectly safe! Which is good for me, since I don't want to be burdened with any deaf-mute bastard spawns of yours," She covered her mouth with her hand as she snickered.

She unhooked Chihiro's overalls and pulled them off, alongside his underwear, gasping at his hardened member.

"Whoa, hard already? You must be a pervert! Only perverts get _that_ hard_ that_ fast!" She slipped down the top of her kimono and let her large breasts bounce freely, then stroked Chihiro's member for a few seconds before she unbuttoned her jean shorts and flowery panties, tossing them both aside. Without a moment's hesitance, she slid herself down on his member, grinning at him. "I haven't handled one this big...but...I still think I can manage!"

He blushed heavily and tried to look away, but Hiyoko begun kissing him again, smirking as she gyrated her hips to a rhythm. "Have you seriously never done this before?! You gotta do some work too! Geezh, slaves sometimes!" She huffed cutely, and Chihiro managed to thrust his hips a bit, making Hiyoko gasp as he didn't match her rhythm at first. She pulled at his hair. "Do it right!"

Chihiro slowly nodded and slowed down a bit, only speeding up when he felt Hiyoko do so. Hiyoko giggled as she continued riding him, purposefully going very fast. Wanting to do more, Chihiro slowly took his hands and lifted them up, taking part of her breasts in them and squeezing them. She blushed in surprise, giving him a smirk.

"See? Pervert...you just touched Princess Saionji's breasts!" She gave a final gyrate before blushing innocently. "Oh no, I think I'm close...you really suck at this game, Big Brother,"

He bit his lip, feeling dizzy from how fast she was going at it. It certainly wasn't helping his current condition. In fact...there was two of her. Now three. She looked concerned about something and was poking him, but all he could do was lift his head up a bit and vomit right onto her chest.

"Ewww!" Hiyoko cried out in disgust, somehow still riding him. "You absolutely disgusting waste of life! Piece of shit! You got your nasty pig-barf all over my chest!" She whined, pulling some of the chunks off. "Oh, why?! Ugh! You suck, Big Brother!"

He gave a final thrust as a response to her, and she suddenly gasped as he randomly hit her G-spot, making her cum. Her juices flowed down his member, and a few seconds later, he filled her, though he was too worn-out to really notice. She pulled herself off and sat across from him. Chihiro sat up as well and they both panted heavily.

"I...won...Big Brother.." She smiled as a final word.

* * *

The two managed to make themselves look presentable again, and Hiyoko had gotten a small bag of things from her house. Chihiro buckled his overalls back on as he looked out the window, Hiyoko running over to him curiously. She caught sight of him staring at Gonta, still passed out on a bench, dead to the world.

"Hm? Is that the retard?" She asked childishly, turning her features up.

Chihiro nodded slowly, thinking Hiyoko was being mean.

"Oh, did I ever say anything about my family?" She asked instead, walking through the store aisles again. She stopped at the candy section, looking at a small selection of chocolate. Chihiro just stared at her. "Well, let me tell you then!"

Hiyoko explained that she was twenty-five; Chihiro felt immense relief at that, only three years older than himself! She was twenty-five and was both the sole daughter and heiress of her family's clan, famous for traditional dancing as well as living very traditional, almost isolated lifestyles. She felt the closest to her father, a man who had no power due to her clan being a matriarchy. Her mother was a bitch, her grandmother was a bitch, but she also admired her grandmother for teaching her everything she knew. She went to a fancy boarding school for teenagers with specialized talents, but her only friend was an eccentric rocker chick who wouldn't know what good music was if it hit her in the face. They took a field trip together shortly before the pandemic, then all were sent home early. Her relatives and fans liked to call her 'baby chick' because of her youthful appearance, name, and aesthetics.

Chihiro fought to keep himself awake, rubbing his good eye in annoyance. He was bored by Hiyoko's droning and everytime he looked out the window to check on Gonta or at the ceiling to count the lights, she'd gently caress his cheek with her hand and move his face back over to where it had been prior. He secretly hoped she'd change her mind about coming, then regretted having that thought. She was likely just traumatized by her family's fall, the deaths of her relatives, and the disappearance of the only person who tolerated her. Tolerated her? Yes, tolerated her. Nobody could like Hiyoko truly, they could only tolerate her.

She spoke of how much she adored sweets, especially sugar-stars and gummy bears, but loathed sour candy. She also said she enjoyed dancing, genuinely, and loved pretty things like flowers and hair combs and red paint. She hated lectures and loved to squish ants, and she didn't understand why her rocker friend thought she sounded good; she didn't, she clearly didn't, she wrote a song called I Squeezed Out the Baby but I Don't Know Who the Father Is, for fuck's sake! Her friend dreamed of making it big, while she just wanted to stick to her dancing. She had 'done it' with several of her male fans a few times, mostly to annoy her family, and she cried when her parents perished at the same time, and her grandmother a day later, even though they had been terrible people in her eyes. She had no idea what became of her old rocker friend and just assumed she was dead from the disease as well, then started to cry again as she thought of their destroyed dreams.

Once she finished crying, she gave Chihiro another childish smirk. "Let's fuck again,"

He shook his head at her and slowly started to stand up, wincing at another pain in his stomach. Hiyoko gasped and pouted childishly at him, glaring.

"Fine then. Bitch, bitch, bitch! You're nothing but a dumb bitch! Literally, you are dumb! Dummy, dummy, dummy!" She yelled, pointing at him. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" He shrugged and started looking through the shelves again. She sniffled. "Hey, I was just kidding, you know. I didn't mean it. I'll still come with you,"

Something about Hiyoko just unnerved him, and he silently wished she'd reconsider again. She had the body of an adult, sure, but the mental and emotional maturity of a young teenager. She was exhausting and Chihiro wasn't sure he was properly equipped to take care of her. Gonta certainly wasn't. He was suddenly afraid of what would happen if the two spent a lot of time together with each other.

"Let's get going, loser!" She cheered, throwing her hands up in the air. Chihiro opened the door for her, and Hiyoko eagerly ran over to Gonta on the bench, who was slowly starting to wake up. "Hello! So nice to meet you!" Her breasts bounced crazily under her kimono.

"Hi, new miss?" Gonta stared at her cautiously, looking over at Chihiro. His eyes were wide at her appearance.

"I'm so excited to meet you! My name is Saionji Hiyoko!" She bowed deeply again.

Chihiro just nodded at Gonta to indicate his approval, then went back into the store. He still had to get that tea for him.

He found an area filled with fridges and read through the labels until he found a row of dark green bottles. The tea wouldn't taste as good, but it's still tea. He took a bottle out and walked back outside to the duo.

He offered the bottle to Gonta with a weak smile, while Gonta stared at it suspiciously.

"What that, Miss?" He asked, eyeing it. "It look bad and green. Sometimes green things are bad,"

Chihiro pointed to the label and balanced the bottle in the crook of his elbow, taking out his notebook when he spotted a mischievous grin creeping onto Hiyoko's face. He winced and tried to shake his head at her.

"It_ is_ bad! Don't you know? It's poison, all poisons come in bottles like that," She sneered.

"Like the ones under the sink Gonta's mother said to never touch?!" His eyes widened, and he cried when Hiyoko nodded. "Then please don't make Gonta drink poison, Miss! Anything but that!"

Chihiro stood there, dumbly, his mouth open in shock as Hiyoko gave him a smug grin. He had no idea what he had done to invoke her wraith, but he knew he needed to calm Gonta down quickly.

He shook his head at Gonta and motioned to the label again, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig from it. He then thrust it in Gonta's direction, but he still shook his head.

"Mother showed Gonta bottles under sink, she did! She said all of it was poison and bad for Gonta! That if Gonta ever drank them, he'd die!" He cried out, trembling in terror.

Chihiro balled his fists at his sides in irritation. He unsuccessfully tried to thrust the bottle at Gonta again but was ignored.

"I'd say my job here is done. He's really nothing but a big, stupid, hunk of meat! But not the good kind. The stupid kind, the ones that are easy to make fun of!" Hiyoko snickered, looking at Chihiro. "How old even are you two? You have one who looks like an adult but acts like a child, and one who is the other! An odd couple if I ever saw one! Your dick was big, but nothing else is!"

Chihiro gave her an awkward look of silent pleading, but she didn't let up.

"You look so much like a child, I'm surprised you aren't the one who acts like one! Bratty little boy, I bet you probably wet your bed every night with your pea-sized bladder! Big Brother is a bedwetter! Big Brother is a bedwetter! Bedwetter, bedwetter, bedwetter!"

Chihiro's fists turned white from pressing too hard, and he swore he saw red as he suddenly charged at Hiyoko, slapping her hard right on her right cheek with his open hand. Everything was silent as the sound rang out; Gonta trembling and Hiyoko frozen. Chihiro took a step back and cringed, realization of what he had done dawning on him.

Almost instantly, Hiyoko burst into angry tears, pointing at Chihiro. "You piece of shit, dummy-freak bastard! You goddamn bedwetter! You deaf-dumb piece of pigshit! I was just making a joke, you know! You didn't have to hit me like that! You can't hit me at all! You can't!" She lunged at him and Chihiro managed to sidestep her, making her teeter dangerously on her getas before she collapsed on her butt. She continued to sob. "I'll tear your fucking dick off, you bastard. You can't just hit me like that,"

Gonta had run off in the commotion, and Chihiro anxiously rubbed his head. He suddenly felt tired, and he covered his mouth as he felt a wave of nausea roll over him. He noticed Hiyoko starting to get up, so he quickly wrote a note to her and held it out for her, motioning to it.

"No!" She tried to storm off, but Chihiro grabbed the back of her ponytail and yanked hard, making her stop in her tracks and cry out. "Fine! I'll read your stupid note!" She ripped it out of his hands and read it quickly.

_I'm sorry. I don't think you'll be useful to us anymore._

"Screw you! I can be as useful as I damn well need to be! And who are you to tell me what to do? I'm coming anyway, and you can't stop me!" She raged. "I'm an heiress, and this sort of treatment is unacceptable!"

Chihiro blinked. He _could_ stop her, if he wanted to. She just hadn't realized that yet, since to her, everything was just like a movie. A romantic drama, probably, where she as the spoiled heiress, would get whatever she wanted in the end. If that was her man and her dream, so be it. She was a little baby chick in the spring, and the world was her oyster.

Except it wasn't like a movie at all. Nobody knew better than Chihiro did; that life was rough and it sucked. You may have the starring role, but nothing ever went your way. Everyone was an antagonist.

With a weary sigh, he pulled out the small gun he wore around his waist and aimed it at her feet, making her freeze.

"H-Hold on...wait...you aren't actually going to shoot me, are you?! Please, I'll do whatever you want!" She sobbed. Chihiro motioned in the direction away from them with the gun, and with a huff, Hiyoko slipped her shoes off and angrily threw them at him, running down the street in just her tabi. He sighed and lowered the gun, placing it at his waist again and kneeling on the ground, promptly throwing up.

Both his stomach and his head pounded as he searched the town for Gonta, the eye under the patch throbbing. All he wanted was to go to bed.

He soon found Gonta huddled on the stairs of a porch, looking worn-out. He glanced up and started trembling again, freaking out. "Please don't make Gonta drink poison again, please don't, Miss?"

Chihiro looked at his hands and barely registered he had been holding onto the bottle of green tea throughout it all. With a broken laugh, he chugged the rest of it down and threw the bottle away. Thanks to Hiyoko, Gonta's own upset stomach would just have to run its course. Hooray.

When they mustered up enough energy to head back to where they placed their bikes, they found the tires all slashed and their supplies strewn about across the street. Chihiro froze when he felt something whizz by and looked up at one of the house windows; Hiyoko was crouched on the second-floor of one, pulling up her nostrils so she looked like a pig when she laughed.

"I have ties to the yakuza! Don't you ever come back here again! Or they'll be on your pussy-asses next time instead of me!" She threatened, firing another shot near the bikes.

The two men got the hint and took off running, glad that neither had actually been shot.

They slept at an empty resort that night; keeping to their room only. Chihiro remained awake most of the night; partially because of his food poisoning and partially because of what happened earlier.

He slapped a girl. He had slapped a girl! What kind of a horrible person was he becoming? A tiny voice in the back of his head kept insisting to him that Hiyoko deserved it for being a brat, but he shut that voice away. Hiyoko was just a victim of circumstance; she couldn't help that. It'd be like if someone had slapped_ him_, almost!

He looked over at Gonta, who was tossing restlessly in his sleep. He was no longer overheated and had been asleep for the past few hours. As Chihiro felt another cramp in his stomach, he found he envied Gonta. Stupid sandwiches. Stupid self for never standing up. Every situation he got himself into was his own fault somehow. His stomach flipped and he rushed to the bathroom, hurling over a small bucket they could dump out the window later.

_Hiyoko deserved it, I wasn't in the wrong at all. She scared Gonta off_ and _insulted your pride._

He shook his head and cradled the bucket.

Gonta found him the next morning in the middle of drying his clothes.

"Miss got sick?" He asked innocently.

Chihiro nodded weakly and started to get dressed.

It was another day.

* * *

On the road that day, looking for new bikes, Chihiro suddenly gasped and ran off the path, kneeling in front of a patch of grass. Gonta looked confused and tried to run after, but Chihiro held his hand out and shook his head.

"Miss? What is it?" He asked, but Chihiro put a finger up to his lips and motioned for Gonta to look. "What is it?" He asked again at a whisper.

Chihiro motioned Gonta closer to a tiny burrow where a family of brown-spotted rabbits were asleep, a few babies curled up with them.

"Does Miss like rabbits?" Gonta asked eagerly, and Chihiro nodded happily. "Gonta does too! Miss like rabbit to Gonta. She soft and quiet and small!"

He blushed heavily and stood back up, and they continued on. The weather was cooler that day than previous days, and dark grey clouds soon began to fill the sky. Chihiro kept looking up anxiously, wondering if it was going to rain. They didn't have any supplies, let alone umbrellas. And it might be a while before they could find some suitable shelter. They had just recovered from being ill and Chihiro dreaded getting sick again all because of weather.

Once they entered another town, they found an outfitter's store and got new bags and supplies, as well as two identical blue bikes. It would be only for a few more days anyway.

"This bike is small," Gonta pouted as he sat on it. "Gonta no want fall off!"

Chihiro shook his head at Gonta, trying to assure him he wouldn't fall off it if he kept pedaling steadily. The sky had turned a darker shade of sickly yellow-green, and Chihiro couldn't soothe the aching in his gut that accompanied the sight.

They pedaled along for quite a while, briefly getting drenched with heavy rain and wind before both magically ceased, and the air seemed stiller. Chihiro felt tenser.

"Miss, we gotta go! Tornado's coming!" Gonta suddenly gasped, jumping off his bike and letting it hit a tree. "Miss!"

Chihiro just frowned at Gonta and wagged his finger at him impatiently for doing that to a bike he just got only a few hours ago. If he caught him doing that again, he'd take it away. He recognized what Gonta said but chose to ignore it. Tornadoes didn't occur this far east, did they? He had never seen any while traveling. He knew Tokyo had seen its fair share, but they were nowhere near Tokyo. He suddenly shivered and tried parking his bike next to Gonta's, setting his partner's upright.

Gonta had just run off and Chihiro couldn't find him anywhere. He was freaked-out, but probably over nothing. A tornado wasn't actually going to form, he hadn't seen a funnel, and it had stopped raining anyway-

Still feeling uneasy, he took one last glance behind him and instantly froze in his tracks.

Just west of him was a thick black darkness that looked as though it stretched all the way to heaven and back; in the shape of a stovepipe. Long, and not quite touching the ground. The clouds around it seemed to flee from its presence, and it snaked its way toward a selection of stores, loudly shattering the glass and pulling their roofs off. A cafe actually had most of its storefront pulled off and lifted away, twirling like a deranged ballerina. Fascinated, Chihiro started to run towards the monstrosity, holding his hand out.

_All of that destruction...I've never seen anything like it. It's amazing, it's awe-inspiring, it's fascinating!_

The tornado hit another store and made it explode with a mighty bang; Chihiro was nearly knocked off his feet from the vibration. He stumbled back and swayed, continuing to run. His feet lifted off the ground and for a brief second, he thought the tornado had finally gotten him before he felt strong arms and a warm chest pulling him close.

"Miss, Miss! You almost got hit!"

Chihiro suddenly seized up and felt truly terrified, noticing how much closer the storm had gotten. Something inside him almost snapped and he felt terror. Tears filled his eye as Gonta held him close, pulling him into a nearby house's storage closet, shutting the door.

The closet was pitch-black and Chihiro felt dizzy from the sudden sensory deprivation. He could only tremble in fright as Gonta pulled him closer. All he could make out were hard walls, wooden floors, and an overwhelming smell of dust and dampness. The vibrations didn't let up, and his heart hammered rapidly in his chest, in his throat, to the point he was afraid of it falling out entirely.

They had only spent about fifteen or twenty minutes in that closet, but Chihiro would later swear it had to have been at least an hour. Once the vibration stopped, Gonta suddenly let go of him and let Chihiro fall to the floor unceremoniously, sitting on his butt. He blinked in confusion as Gonta threw open the door and dashed out; the light was a blinding white and Chihiro quickly shielded his good eye from it, as well as noticing the wind was stronger.

_Where's he going now?_

He slowly peeled himself off the floor and felt a sudden dark shiver; as if something evil was there. Like that woman in his dreams, the one in the Catholic uniform and the bear in her hair.

The tornado had done a number on the house, ripping the roof right off and exposing the house to open air; furniture was thrown aside and one half of the walls had collapsed.

Walking back to where they parked their bikes, he had a sudden interest with why everything else had gotten destroyed, but their bikes were perfectly fine. Some sort of cruel joke, perhaps. All that happened was them being knocked over by the wind, and Gonta was currently setting them back up.

"Miss okay?" He immediately asked upon seeing Chihiro. He nodded, giving him a weak smile. Aside from his heart still thundering and his sudden urge to pee, he did indeed feel quite fine. "That tornado was bad, Miss. Something bad about it. It_ felt_ bad. Miss feel bad too?" He shook his head.

Gonta motioned over to Chihiro's bike, and he nodded at it and very slowly sat back on it. He watched Gonta get into position carefully, thinking about how Gonta saved him from the storm earlier.

_That's right, he saved me. I had never seen a tornado before; they aren't native to my part of Japan. I had no idea about them...I would've gotten myself killed if I wasn't with him today,_ He realized in surprise. _Now I_ really_ need to find another survivor. I have to thank him properly. Plus, he doesn't even know my name. Oh, he doesn't even know my name because he can't read. He doesn't even know my actual gender, because I can't tell him. Oh._

He sat there dumbly as Gonta rode by. "Miss ready to go?" He asked slowly, and Chihiro nodded. They set off again.

That night, Chihiro felt a strange uneasiness settle over him as he prepared for bed, one that made him shiver and squirm with despair. He noticed a bird eyeing him wearily and in a panic, he grabbed a rock and threw it behind the bird. It startled and flew away. He panted a bit before he finally settled down enough to crawl into his sleeping bag and fall asleep.

He dreamed of the girl with the bear in her hair, twirling around rapidly, the Rosary around her neck spinning even faster than her, making him dizzy. Then he smelled the comforting smell of rice and recognized the music that was playing; a koto. It relaxed him in a sense, in a way he hadn't ever known.

He woke up in the early hours of the dawn, rubbing his eye and noticing the tiny reddish sun on the horizon. He still remembered the music from his dream; what it sounded like, the hollowness of it, and how he _knew_ that was what a koto sounded like despite never having heard one before.

There was another sound that he recalled too; a childish female voice calling out to him from the recesses of his mind: "They used to call me Lady Nanami. You're so close to me, you know? Come see me when you get here. I'm waiting for you, alright? Please come.."

His bladder was painfully full, and he nearly jumped for joy when he felt his clothes and sleeping bag being dry. Not feeling quite energetic enough yet, he sleepily crawled out of the sleeping bag a few paces away from Gonta. He stretched a bit on his knees and unclasped his overalls, pulling out his member and sighing in relief as he emptied his aching bladder into the grass.

Afterwards, he crawled back into bed and kept an eye on the remaining stars he could see, realizing he could see so many more of them now than before. He held his hand out, wanting to touch the constellations. The moon was a small white crescent. He smiled to himself, feeling happy.

* * *

They walked for the better part of that day, and Chihiro found himself dreaming of being picked up on the road if it meant no more bike-riding. Picked up by a formal but polite stranger, one with strong Japanese beliefs and a sleek, shiny Honda, small and white, or perhaps silver. He'd respect Chihiro and take him to where he wanted to go, much like when Chihiro hailed occasional rides when he was traveling from city to city before.

So far, though, no luck.

Until later that afternoon when Gonta eagerly poked Chihiro, making him look over.

"Miss, Gonta sees something!" He pointed in the distance and Chihiro shielded his eye, recognition on his features as he realized it was a car.

"Miss think they nice? What if they mean though?" Gonta pouted, but Chihiro motioned to his smile, then to the two of them. "Miss thinks they nice? Like Gonta and Miss?" He nodded eagerly. "Okay then! Gonta make them stop!"

He waved at the car, and Chihiro suppressed a gasp when he realized the car was a shiny silver Honda. The driver pulled up beside them and rolled down their window, giving Gonta and Chihiro a large smile.

"Well, am I happy to see some kind faces around here!" He greeted. He had spiky purple hair and wore baggy clothes. Beside him, in the passenger seat, was a woman in all black, a mask on her face. Chihiro gasped and ran over to the window.

"Hello, Chihiro-san," Seiko gave him a genuine smile.

"Where you two heading? I'm always happy to give a ride to any girls in need!" The man continued eagerly. Chihiro suddenly remembered the notebook in his pocket and pulled it out, hurriedly scribbling down:

_Heading to Hiroshima. He is Gokuhara Gonta, and I am Fujisaki Chihiro. I cannot speak or hear, and thus, Gonta-san does not know my name._

He showed the paper to the man, who nodded and addressed Gonta.

"Your friend here wanted me to tell you their name is Fujisaki Chihiro,"

Gonta's face lit up in amazement.

"Miss had a name this whole time! Miss is named Fujisaki Chihiro!" He hugged Chihiro tightly, who showed another note to the man, who cleared his throat at Gonta.

"Fujisaki-san also wanted me to tell you that they are actually a man,"

Gonta gasped and let go of Chihiro. "Miss has been Mister this whole time?! Gonta so sorry, Mister! Gonta thought you were pretty lady!"

Seiko and the man both laughed, and the man gestured them inside. Chihiro smiled.

"Well, enough talk. Hop on in already! We'll get to where you need to be, no problem!"

And that was how Gonta and Chihiro both met Momota Kaito.


	6. Chiaki 1: Japanese Princess

**Chiaki 1: Japanese Princess**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; July 16th, 1994**

* * *

She woke up at exactly five that morning, before the sun as she always did. Today would be a good morning, she could feel it. Well, most mornings were good for her anyway. She climbed out of bed and stretched, slowly wandering outside and drawing the water from her well before putting it on the stove to heat up. She had the steps and overall routine memorized by that point. She started to cook breakfast; a bowl of steamed rice with miso soup and grilled fish, alongside salad, natto, tsukemono, nori, and kobachi. It was a lot and she pouted a bit before she caught herself. She didn't have to eat it all. And more would be coming, soon, good people she could share her food with.

She kneeled in front of her table and arranged the food with some green tea.

"Itadakimasu," She whispered, hands clasped together, before she picked up her wooden chopsticks and began to eat.

She was partially joking whenever she said she only knew how to make rice balls; but she held a sense of pride about them since they were the very first thing she mastered and felt the most comfortable making groups of, even then. She ate quietly, listening to the shishi-odoshi hit the rock outside and slowly fill with water again, the crickets chirping softly, a few literal early birds calling out. The smell of an early morning in summer; dew and freshly-cooked rice. The fabric of her white under-kimono slowly sliding up her arms and brushing against the table.

Once she finished eating, she carefully placed her dishes away and clasped her hands again, thanking the gods for the delicious meal before she stood up and headed back to her closet.

She wanted to wear a blue kimono that day; running her hands along the selection, she soon felt a cotton one and pulled it out, wanting that one.

It was a light blue piece patterned with white waves and blue fish; a grey-cream obi tied around her waist. She very carefully brushed through her knee-long hair and tied it up in a simple bun, wearing a white flower on the side. Her tabi were white as usual, and her zori were blue to match her kimono. Smiling, she headed outside slowly to see what had to be done that day.

The garden was still in order, so she went back inside and felt around, gasping happily when she came across her beloved shamisen and pulled it out of its hiding place, walking back outside and sitting on her porch, gently strumming her shamisen for a few minutes before she started to play a traditional song. Her voice joined in after a while; cutesy and young instead of syrupy and mature. Once upon a time, she was self-conscious about it; secretly, since a true woman never felt anything negative, when people from her tiny community gathered to listen to her and a few people always commented on how her voice never matched the songs she sung. Well, her voice just sounded lonely then, as it was carried into the trees and vanished, never to be heard by another living soul again.

She was born in 1979; to a very large and extended family. She had her mama and papa, of course, her aunt and uncle, and her grandparents. She was the only child of the family, and they were all greatly disappointed she was a girl. They soon wiped their hands of the matter though, saying she would get married off soon and that was that. It was even worse when they learned the baby girl had been born with very weak vision, making her even less of a desired bride.

Still, they had to deal with what they had, and deal with it they did. Chiaki was decided from an early age to be raised as the quintessential Japanese lady, perfect and demure in her mannerisms. The shamisen was the very first instrument she learned how to play, and the irony of that was never lost on her.

Their community was very tiny; only seven very large and close-knit families lived in the same houses their ancestors had build in the ancient days of the Heian Era, and Chiaki's were no exception. The house was small and only had three rooms. There were a few children around to play with, but Chiaki was often made to stay inside, trying to make herself content as she sat on the porch and strummed her shamisen.

"Mama, that girl has funny eyes!" She heard a child whisper one day. She kept her focus trained on her instrument, acting as if she didn't hear. When you had poor vision, a lot of people just seemed to assume you had poor hearing as well, she quickly learned.

Sometimes the children would gather to hear her play her instruments, or sing, or dance, or all three sometimes. She always had a warm smile on her face whenever the children arrived and made sure to hide away dumplings filled with red bean paste for them to leave with. As she grew older, they often took to calling her 'Lady Nanami', as she was a ghost in their community who only appeared for short intervals throughout the year, playing her instruments, dancing, painting, practicing a formal tea ceremony ritual, or flower-arranging. She was like a fairy-tale princess to them, who encompassed everything their parents dreamed a Japanese maiden would be like.

When she had grown bored of her instrument, she slowly stood up and hanged it back up, thinking to herself.

"It is still early afternoon...what else can I do today?" She asked out-loud; her voice bounced off the empty walls. She felt tired, but knew she couldn't take a nap yet. Did she clean the house? She could never tell if it needed it or not, so it was always best to clean it out once a day. Then she could work on some flower-arranging.

She took out her cleaning supplies and stumbled as she accidentally tread on the broom; she steadied herself with a cute pout. Afterwards, she dragged the supplies into the main room and begun to sweep it, starting from one side of the room and ending on the other. She then walked outside and started to sweep up her porch, then shook out the tatami mats before placing them back into the house. She hummed to herself as she did so. Once she did that, she did the dishes, still humming before she headed back out to the porch to do her flower-arranging. She decided on blue and yellow flowers that day, thinking they matched the summery feel in the air. If she received her visitors in a few days like she somehow felt she would, they likely would appreciate a bit of colour as well.

Once the flower-arranging was completed, Chiaki yawned greatly and left the glass vase on one side of her porch, wanting to put it next to the door but afraid of accidentally knocking it over and breaking it. She went back inside the house and slowly unwrapped herself out of her kimono and untied her hair, letting it fall in a great wave. She boiled some more well water on the stove and washed herself off with some lavender soap; once the water was hot enough, she poured it into her bath and slipped in, smiling to herself at the steaminess of it. She almost fell asleep in it and kept pinching herself a few times everytime she caught herself starting to nod off, which resulted in a surprised gasp from her mouth.

After her bath was done, she ran a brush through her fine-smelling hair until the pinkish-periwinkle waves shone, then she braided them loosely. She clad herself in another white under-kimono and snuggled onto her cot, feeling bad that she was going to bed early but also praising herself for getting everything that needed to be done that day done in a timely fashion.

* * *

Chiaki woke up the next morning with a sudden craving for fish. Ah, that made sense. It was the middle of summer, after all, and what was a better summer dish than fish? Plus, her visitors were coming soon; she dreamed about them in the night. Three men and three women, with a little girl. One of the men was unable to speak or hear, but she knew he was destined for something great. She could feel it. Oh, how ironic. She'd have to talk to him specifically, but he couldn't hear or talk, and she couldn't see.

She used her chamber pot and put on a simple yellow yukata with her hair still braided and a heavy pair of boots that was left behind by her uncle, wanting to dress practically for fishing. Did she have a grill? She supposed she did; though how she'd go about finding it she had no clue. Well, she could save that for later. It was fishing time, then. She'd also have to check the houses of her neighbors and perhaps that tiny convenience store that was built in '92 that hardly anyone used yet never went out of business. She'd need more things to entertain her guests than just fish and rice; a good hostess and wonderful wife provided for every single need of her guests, no matter what. She'd need to make sure it was as if the apocalypse never happened. So not just fish and rice, but somen and grilled chicken and shaved ice and ramune too! Maybe some beer for the adults, but she didn't really feel comfortable with having that around.

Feeling around for a fishing net and soon finding one, she dragged it off the shelf and grabbed a satchel as well, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she dragged the net behind her and walked off, keeping out of the soggy rice paddies. She had only been to the beach once or twice with her grandparents when she was very young, but surely she could recognize it by sound and smell? She wasn't feeble, she could figure it out.

The ground turned softer and more uneven under her feet and she gasped in surprise as she suddenly fell over, feeling sand stick to her skin.

"I must be at the beach..." She commented before she gathered the net up and threw it out, keeping a tight grip on it and sitting down at the shore. "I just wait, I guess..." Chiaki decided she would've been a very terrible fishing partner.

As she waited, she thought of a traditional song from Hokkaido the fishermen would sing as they went about their day, and begun to sing it as well.

"Oh! Soran, soran, soran!  
Soran, soran, soran, yes, yes!  
When we hear the jabbering of seagulls on the high seas,  
we know we can't give up our fishing lives on the ocean.  
Put your backs into it! Heave, ho! Heave, ho!"

She longed to do the dance for it and felt her arms twitch with the craving, but she shook her head and tightened her grip on the net. It didn't feel full yet, so maybe there wasn't anything in it yet. She could wait. If there was one thing Chiaki Nanami was good at, it was being patient.

Due to her upbringing, she was quite isolated, she recalled that. She knew what certain things were, but hadn't ever experienced them. Still, her education wasn't entirely neglected, she knew how to read and write and do basic math. Her knowledge of the Japanese language encompassed an extremely formal tongue; with only rudimentary knowledge of causality. She had always wanted to learn English, as a few children in her community begun taking English as early as sixth grade in some cases, and it was a funny-sounding language she wanted to learn, but both her parents and grandparents forbade it.

"You have no reason to know English! Your future husband will be a traditional, good-spirited, strong Japanese man!" They scolded. And Chiaki had no way of teaching the language to herself, so she eventually stopped thinking about it. She instead became a master of flower-arranging, traditional tea ceremony, calligraphy, and song and dance. Her painting skills were good, but not impressive, but her parents never fussed over that anyway.

"What is to happen between my future husband and I?" She asked curiously one day, blinking her wide but dull pink eyes; eleven at the time. Her mother had been in the room with her; the two were practicing her dancing.

"Whatever do you mean, Chiaki-chan?" Her mother asked nervously.

"You know...between us. What is to happen?" She tilted her head slightly in curiosity.

"You'll get married, of course, and move into his family's house and become like a daughter to them. And you will have children, strong sons to serve the nation and delicate daughters to marry off,"

"But how?"

"Chiaki-chan!" Her mother suddenly slapped her wrist with her fan, making her gasp in pain. "Your stance is messed-up!"

And Chiaki never asked the question again, afraid of the consequences. She assumed she'd figure it out when the time came.

Her talent soon became known outside of her community, however, and talent scouts approached her, asking her if she'd like to attend a specialized school for people with extraordinary talents. She agreed, but her family put in the final word that sealed her fate.

"No."

"Are you kidding us? She's too impressionable, they might teach her bad things!"

"She can't even see, and you're suggesting she go to a school with other children? They'll be merciless,"

She plucked her koto quietly in her corner as she listened to them talk.

The schools didn't let up, and when whispers of a pandemic started to stir up even their sleepy little town, her family panicked and agreed to let Chiaki go on a field trip with a few other students with the secret hope that the students will survive the plague and rebuild society.

The field trip only lasted for a few days before everyone was sent back home. Tragedy struck for Chiaki as well; she had fallen ill with the Despair Disease and nearly died, the terribly-high fever left her blind in both eyes. She arrived home to find out everyone in her family had perished from the disease, and there would be nobody to help her grow accustomed to her blindness.

After burying her family with the help of an elderly man, the only two left in the community, Chiaki had a dream as well; a dream like the one she had while sick on the island, but clearer this time. A premonition of sorts, of great despair spreading through the world and only a certain group of people would be able to stop it. Led by her. Not sure how to feel, she declined the man's offer to travel down south, citing the rice farm had been in her family for generations and she wished to tend to it in their absence.

"Miss, that may not be the best idea," He had cautioned, but she shook her head.

"I will likely die from the disease soon anyway. Let me have some peace with my family's traditions," She had insisted, and the man bowed and left; he was gone two days later.

Spurred by the premonition, Chiaki stayed inside her old house, tending to everything she could and eagerly anticipating the people who would save the world from despair.

She jumped in surprise when she felt sharp, heavy tugs at the net, and quickly jumped up and gave it a mighty yank, smiling when she heard the satisfying plop of fish on the sand. How many did she have? She had no way to visually tell, but judging by the multitude of slaps; quite a lot.

Yes, she had fish! Now she just needed the other ingredients. Hopefully the store would have what she needed; she thought to herself as she slowly dragged her net full of fish the length of the beach, trying to find her way back home again.

* * *

They would arrive late morning that day, she thought to herself as she woke up. Then she'd have to dress up fancy, wouldn't she, in that peachy pink and yellow furisode she only wore once; when she performed for her whole community for the first time. Would it still fit her? She was thirteen last she wore it, or maybe twelve. Oh well, she'd make some quick adjustments to it so it would if it didn't. That was the lovely thing about kimono; with a careful hand, and a female form, any that didn't fit at first could quickly be remedied.

She had bathed the previous night as usual, but put on some lavender perfume and felt around her closet, wondering if it would be seen as tasteless or unseemly for her to put makeup on. She didn't know if her female relatives ever wore makeup; they never said and she didn't think they seemed like the type. But what if the men didn't think she was as pretty with a plain face? Then they might insult her cooking next! She suddenly trembled before she forced herself to calm down.

A little bit couldn't hurt, provided it matched her kimono.

Chiaki had gone through the motions of dressing herself a hundred plus times by that point, but her hands still shook as she tied herself into a layered furisode in a shade of cream, patterned with red, pink, yellow, green, blue, and orange flowers and streams. She swung her arms around and felt the sleeves dance around. They were longer than she remembered them being; almost touching the floor. The kimono was a bit shorter than she remembered as well, but it still went to her ankles and thus she knew she would be fine. She wore white zori and tabi with it, and carefully pulled her hair up into a bun, wearing a red and pink flower headpiece in it. She pulled out a small paintbrush and dabbed a hint of pink onto her lips, powdered her face so she'd appear even paler, and added just the hint of pink powder to her cheeks to bring her natural rosiness.

After that was done, she spent the remainder of her morning cooking quickly but carefully, wanting her food to taste just as perfect as it possibly could, as well as looking as beautiful as it possibly could, just as she was taught. The fish and chicken were grilled first to get them out of the way; she arranged both on their own separate platters, adding garnishes of vegetables and skewering the chicken through with sticks. She finished steaming the rice and added that as well, then started cooking the somen. She placed little flower-shaped vegetables in it for the children. As she was finishing up the shaved ice and ramune, she heard a car start to pull up and knew it was them. With a final flourish, she placed the food on her table and walked outside, hearing the group get out of their car.

She couldn't actually see them, but she could 'see' them, in her dreams, therefore she had a general idea of what they all looked like. They were all piling out of a Honda drove by a purple-haired man who looked older than he was. There was also a silver-haired woman with a mask on her face, another black-haired woman, who had a pink-pigtailed girl clinging to her. There was another woman seated in the back; woman in age, though not in appearance, with dark red hair. Sitting in the back with her were a man with long dark hair and another man with brown-blond hair and an eyepatch.

"Hello? Is this the right place?" The redhead called out tiredly. "We've been driving for the better part of two days and I need a rest...the roads were too bumpy..."

Chiaki smiled warmly. She understood that feeling. Stepping out onto her porch, she bowed deeply and politely to her guests.

"Welcome to my humble home. I am very honoured to have you all here. Your journey to find me was not easy, nor was it quick. But you are here now...that's good...I think. Um, I did make food for you all, as it is my duty. So even though you must move along soon, we should eat together and enjoy this fine summer day," She rose when she heard someone climb up the stairs and approach her. She tilted her head curiously and reached out her hands, gently running them along the person's face, ignoring the gasps. "Hm...you're Big Brother Chihiro, aren't you? I recognize you from my dreams. You brought them all here, didn't you? Thank you for that," She stepped back and gave him a warm smile. She could tell he was crying by the hiccuping sniffles. "I'm pretty sure you did a good job,"

"What's wrong with your eyes?" The pink-haired girl piped up.

The black-haired woman gasped. "You can't say things like that, it's rude." She scolded.

Chiaki found herself laughing for once. "Are they pretty? I'm blind...but I can still take care of myself. But come on! Sit outside. I will bring the food out to you lovely people,"

"She looks like a princess, and talks like one too!" Kotoko gasped happily. Chihiro gave her a smile.

* * *

Chiaki had Kaito, Chihiro, and Gonta go off and pick some more rice in the fields while she had Seiko, Maki, and Himiko help her arrange the small table outside her house and organize the food on it in an aesthetically-pleasing way. Kotoko just ran around the house, sliding down Chiaki's slide several times until she grew bored of it, then just twirled around.

"Does it look good?" Chiaki asked once they had all finished.

"As good as it'll get," Maki shrugged. "I'm not sure why the appearance matters,"

"Because food isn't just about tasting good, it has to look good as well. It is not a good meal if your eyes aren't pleased as much as your stomach," Chiaki insisted just as the men returned. "You brought back lots of rice," She praised, bowing deeply. "Thank you. The food is ready. I will go put this away," She took the basket from them and headed inside her house as everyone else kneeled in front of the table, waiting until their hostess returned. "I just have chopsticks. I hope that won't be a burden,"

"I don't think it'll be, Miss Chiaki. Have you forgotten we're all perfectly good Japanese folk?" Kaito laughed to reassure her. "Honestly, I've been using forks for so long to eat canned goods, I've been craving the familiar feeling of chopsticks in my hands!"

"Only a weirdo would care so passionately about something like that," Himiko shot back.

Chiaki bowed her head and clasped her hands together, leading them all in the motions. "Itadakimasu," They announced in unison, then they all began to eat. She smiled warmly as they did so; there wasn't much talking, just the sounds of everyone eating pleasurably. She knew they missed the taste and feeling of a good cooked meal, and it was her job to provide it for them. Even if they weren't actually hungry in the literal sense, they were hungry in a more emotional sense. She ate some herself; dainty bites of everything since there were men around, but she ate the majority of the shaved ice she had prepared.

"Thank you for making such a good and traditional meal, Miss Chiaki! It tasted delicious and you could tell it was made with effort and love!" Kaito praised. "The last time I had a meal that good was...the thirtieth, I think, just before my power went out,"

"Did you...cook...lots before...?" Seiko asked curiously.

"With my grandparents! Made the best Setsubun sushi you had ever eaten!" He laughed. "Ah well, all we can do now is hold onto our good memories and move forward,"

"How did you all meet?" Chiaki bowed again. "Please excuse me for interrupting,"

"Well, I ran into Fujisaki-san and Gokuhara-san here when I was driving a few days ago. I asked if they needed a ride and they practically jumped right in! A few days before that though, I ran into Kimura-san on the outskirts of Osaka. She had nowhere to go either, so I took her in," Kaito explained.

"He...took care of me when...I got sick..." Seiko motioned to Chihiro. "Back in Osaka...I saw him on the side of the road and told...to pull over..."

"We then ran into Harumaki and her friend Yumeno-san a few days after that, and took them in. Harumaki said a child she was taking care of had fallen sick and they were looking for a doctor. Kimura-san was there and patched little Kotoko-chan right up! So they all joined us,"

"Please stop calling me that," Maki grumbled.

"We're a strange group of survivors..." Himiko sighed.

Chiaki laughed. "Being strange is good...I think,"

Afterwards, everyone took to exploring around her house, fascinated by the timelessness of it. Chiaki cleaned the table off and carried the dishes back inside, pleased by how much everyone loved her dishes.

Still, there was something important to take care of. She'd deal with that tonight. She looked over in the direction of Kaito's voice, recognizing that he was playing a heated game of tag with Kotoko and Gonta both, while Maki, Himiko, and Seiko sat under one of her trees, talking quietly with each other. She felt Chihiro's presence, but had no idea where he was. She frowned and went back inside, taking out her broom and sweeping up around the house. Did she still have spare cots? Yes, she must've. She never removed her relatives', just placed them into the storage closet. Hopefully there'd be enough for everyone, or at least enough to share.

Once it was evening, the group began to wind down and headed inside; Kaito carrying a sleeping Kotoko in his arms. Chiaki had finished laying out the cots for everyone, looking up at their footsteps.

"There are enough cots for everyone, if two people don't mind sharing," She bowed politely again.

"Let's share..." Himiko yawned, pointing to Maki. "I never thought it'd be bedtime,"

"Gonta tired too...Gonta hasn't slept on real bed in long time!" Gonta announced, heading over to his own cot.

Kaito gently tucked Kotoko into bed, and Seiko and Maki started getting ready as well. Chiaki motioned to Kaito and Chihiro and led them outside, kneeling in front of them on her porch after they shut the front door.

"Please describe yourselves," She asked once they settled in front of her.

"Look, I'm not trying to start anything, but you know...Fujisaki-san can't speak," Kaito started. Chiaki pouted childishly.

"You can though, can't you? Describe him for me!"

Chihiro winced and blushed, looking down at his lap.

"Okay, well, I'm a pretty tall guy with spiky purple hair and beard with lots of muscles. I wear pretty baggy clothes because I like to relax. Right now I have on baggy purple pajama pants, a galaxy vest, a white T-shirt, and blue slippers," Kaito listed off. "And Fujisaki-san is a very small and lithe guy, he almost looks like a girl. He's currently wearing a bright orange middy top, a red letter-jacket, ripped jean shorts with a black belt, and red sneakers with white socks. He has an eyepatch on too, with one hazel eye and brown-yellow hair,"

Chiaki nodded. She could already see them in her head; Kaito as a heroic type and Chihiro as a demure type. She smiled to herself.

Chihiro scribbled down on his paper, and Kaito cleared his throat. "Why did you call us out here specifically, Miss Chiaki?"

"Because you two seem to be the leaders of your little group there. Everyone seems to respect you two, and I have something important to say,"

Kaito laughed. "Haha, you really think I've got the makings of a hero? Funnily enough, I always wanted to be an astronaut before. Aced the exams and everything. But...I don't know if I'm really 'leader' material. I think Fujisaki-san fits that better. He's a compassionate dude,"

Chihiro blushed heavily and looked down at his blank sheet of notebook paper, still sitting in his lap. He then wrote something down and showed it to Kaito, who read it and nodded.

"He said it was his idea to head up north here because of his dreams. He dreamed of you, Miss Chiaki. But he's not sure if he even wants to be a leader,"

"Has anyone else had dreams of me? Have you seen anyone else at all?" Chiaki pressed, curious.

"Harumaki and Yumeno-san never spoke of any dreams, but they don't talk much anyway. Kimura-san mentioned she dreamed of you twice, briefly. Kotoko-chan described your little yellow and blue slide, perfectly. She called you 'princess'." Kaito continued.

"Have you?"

"A few times, but other times, I dream of...her," He shivered suddenly, and Chiaki tilted her head. Chihiro started to write something down, but she shook her head at him. She understood what he meant. The girl with the bear in her hair.

"Going back to the subject of other people...no, none at all. There must be more, but they're likely scared of us. Being in a big group. Kimura-san said she heard motorcycles when she was traveling, so there's bound to be others like us!" Kaito said.

"We're going to have to make a community for them...one that's bigger than this. But...I'm a bit nervous. This place has been my home for fifteen years. I've never seen the outside world. I have literally never left my house. There is so much I do not know or understand...but there's something in me telling me that this is the right thing to do. We'll have to travel west, go deeper into Hiroshima, and establish a new colony there," Chiaki explained. "The feeling also told me that someone special would come here, protect us all, and guide us. That person...is you," She pointed to Chihiro, whose eye widened in disbelief. She simply nodded and placed a hand on her heart. "Yes, you, Big Brother Chihiro. Whatever is guiding us, it seems to think you're the one with the most goodness in your heart,"

Chihiro blushed heavily and looked down at his paper again. He then wrote down:

_I'm not sure if I really believe all of that, but...there _was_ something pulling at me, telling me to go north and find you. And it's the same for all those other people too. It can't have been a coincidence, for us to all think that. Have you dreamed of us too?_

Chiaki shook her head once Kaito read the paper. "No...but I do dream of other people. An older guy who doesn't talk much, a pregnant teenage girl, a man with a guitar around your age, and of course you," She explained to Chihiro. "I have had those dreams so much, their features are permanently etched into my mind. That's a good thing...I think,"

"Who's the girl with the bear in her hair, anyway?" Kaito questioned. "Is she, like, evil or something?"

"She is the purest form of despair that exists. It has taken many forms over the years, and this is just the current form it has taken," Chiaki explained, yawning a bit. She rubbed her eyes. "Everyone who does evil things, are often good people who got corrupted by her, made to believe their current situation is hopeless. And much like I'm gathering you all here, she's gathering her own group south of here, made up of all those types of people. Probably even faster than we're gathering our group,"

"Wait, are you implying we're going to have to fight her?"

"Yes," Chiaki yawned again. "The time will come, soon, for all of us to make our final stand against despair, for hope,"

"We gotta deal with all of that while we don't even have things like electricity, or doctors?! Look, normally I'm all for a typical good vs evil story, but there's gotta be a time and a place for everything!"

Chihiro stared down at his notebook.

"That's just how it is," Chiaki pouted. "It's not an ideal situation, but...I think we can win it. Something tells me we can. It's the will of God,"

He finally wrote something down and showed it to Kaito, who cleared his throat.

"What's wrong?" She asked, frowning.

"Um, well, he wrote down..." He looked at it again. "He said he doesn't believe in any of that spiritual stuff,"

Chiaki laughed and moved closer to Chihiro, taking his face in her hands again. "That doesn't matter at all! Hope will triumph over despair, that's all you need to know,"

**####**

**On the Shores of Nagasaki; July 20th, 1994**

* * *

"Oh, this place is such a dump!" A redheaded woman gasped as she carefully got off the boat, looking around. She snapped a picture anyway with the blocky purple instant camera around her neck; she picked up what it spat out.

"Yes, it'll look like a dump at first. But that's what you guys are here for!" Junko laughed happily, stepping onto the beach. She wore a Japanese shrine priest outfit in half-white and half-black, hair in pigtails and a choker with Kuma-chan on it. "Speaking of which, get to it! Nagasaki won't fix itself, you know!"

"Well, at least you picked the right people for the job," A man with pink hair grinned, getting out a red toolbox.

Hajime stood by Junko's side; wearing a black tailored suit, silent. His hair had grown a bit longer.

"Mistress, will there be other people like us?" The redhead asked curiously.

"Of course! There's tons of people out there who share our desires! It's just a matter of finding them! And if we run out, we can just convince others onto our side with a little nudge," Junko sat down on the hood of a wrecked car, kicking her combat boots up onto it. "But we won't. Everyone has evilness and despair in them, it's just a matter of getting it out at the right time!"

The redhead snapped a photo of Junko. Hajime walked over to her and remained silent, eyeing her.

"I hope some will be hot chicks, like a blonde or something. I've always imagined myself with a blonde," The mechanic grinned as the redhead walked over to him. She carefully put her camera down and picked up a wrench, walking off with it.

Junko leaned back on the car and grinned, watching the two start to fix up the city for her. One was a mechanic, and he got that old boat up and running in about ten minutes. Who knew what he could do with a city? No, she wasn't worried in the slightest.

**####**

**Hiroshima; July 21st, 1994**

* * *

They decided it would be best to move on the next day, and spent the current time packing up what little they had. Kaito, Seiko, and Gonta had gone off to a dealership in the hopes of getting a bigger car and a working radio-hopefully, while Maki and Himiko washed the clothes, Kotoko played with some old paper-dolls of Chiaki's, and Chihiro watched them all from the porch. He smiled as he remembered earlier when Kaito announced he was setting off and needed someone to come with him, and Gonta ran right over from the side of the house.

"Can Gonta come? He promises he'll be good! Gonta want to come!" He suggested, and Kaito laughed and clapped him on the back.

"Of course you can! As long as you don't mind a lady coming,"

"Gonta be extra nice to Miss then!"

Seiko got in on the other side of the car, while Gonta sat in the back. He waved eagerly to Chihiro through the window as they pulled out.

"Gonta be back soon, Mister! With bigger car! You see!"

Chihiro waved back, smiling sweetly at the trio. For some reason, he felt excited at the idea of getting a radio into his hands again. Maybe he could even tinker with it a bit, see if he could get it to work. Oh, to hold a piece of technology in his own two hands again; it had been nearly two months since he last had! Not to mention, Gonta was the happiest he had ever seen him be. Here, he was with people who accepted him and loved him, simple-mindedness and all. It was more than Gonta could possibly hope for, he assumed.

Once they left, he got out a can of white paint from Chiaki's storage closet and slowly climbed up to the side of her house, frowning a bit as he started to write.

"You're going to fall," Maki criticized when she saw him. He didn't hear her, so he kept writing. She sighed and crossed her arms, standing there silently as she watched Chihiro do his work, soon finishing and climbing down the ladder. She read what he wrote, noticing it was an address.

_I did it in case any other survivors come here and find it empty. They'll know where to go next,_ He wrote to her, putting the paint away.

"Hm," Maki just looked away. "What's the last part mean?"

_Someone will need to monitor the radio station if we ever get it working. Someone might be better suited for a job like that,_

"Why'd you write it on the side of her house and not a sign?" She pressed. Chihiro blushed heavily.

_The winds might knock it over,_ He wrote, recalling that horrendous tornado him and Gonta encountered just a few days prior. Winds like that _did_ exist in this part of Japan.

Maki simply walked away, and Chihiro blushed further.

He couldn't be a good leader, he just couldn't. What kind of a successful leader couldn't even speak to the people they led? Couldn't even hear their concerns or complaints? Yet somehow, the others all pegged him as a leader of some sort when he had done nothing to deserve it. Everytime a question was asked, though, everyone often looked for him to give a confirmation or negation of some sort. Why?! What made him so great in their eyes?! He was just some stupid, deaf-mute, weak little kid! He couldn't lead anybody!

Chihiro chewed his thumbnail anxiously as he walked back onto Chiaki's porch, feeling tears form in his eye. He suddenly missed those nostalgic days of being alone, before he met Gonta and got roped into this whole mess. Back when he had no responsibility and almost went crazy from his bad dreams...somehow, he missed those days. Back then, nobody cared about him or looked to him for guidance. He just had to take care of himself, the way it had always been. Chiaki had come out by that point, holding a white fan patterned with pink butterflies.

"Big Brother Chihiro," She walked over to him and kneeled at his feet, slowly rising again. "Did you know I wasn't born blind?"

He stared at her, awaiting more.

"I couldn't see that well, but I definitely could. I understood what colours were, that things had a certain shape. But only if they were very close to my face. Still, it upset my family. Nobody will ever want a wife who can't see her own two hands! We will never marry her off at all! That is what they said," She continued. "But, I proved them wrong. Everything I know how to do, is done with a careful eye and steady hand. I do not have a careful eye, but..." She went back inside the house and came back, carrying a glass vase full of flowers. "Ikebana is one of my talents. Look at this. If you hadn't known it was made by me, would you have ever assumed it was made by a blind person at all?"

Chihiro shook his head before blushing.

"No, you would not," Chiaki answered for him, setting the vase down. "My eyesight might've gotten a bit better, if I hadn't gotten sick with the Despair Disease during a class trip. The fever was so high, I silently begged to go to sleep and never wake up. Next morning, I _did_ wake up...but I couldn't see. I heard the voice of my beloved classmate, crying and begging for me to look at him, but I couldn't," She frowned. "I left only because I had a calling. In my dreams, I dreamed of wondrous places and people I had never seen before. I knew it was a sign," Her voice turned more melancholy. "I'm only a fifteen-year-old blind girl, but I _know_ things. And I know you were chosen to lead us for a reason, Big Brother Chihiro. You may not realize it yet, but you will. You just need to start manning up and realizing it,"

He gasped in surprise when she took his hands suddenly. "The two of us know what it's like. The world looks down on us because of things we cannot do. That's why we have to show them that we can do other things, different things, sometimes even better than them," She yawned. "I'm going to sleep...let me know when Big Brother Kaito comes back,"

Her words swam around in his head and he felt fresh tears form in his eye. This time, though, he had no idea if he was happy or sad.

* * *

Kaito returned shortly before lunch with a large bright purple van, smiling when he got out. "I think this one is even prettier than my old car!"

"That colour is awful," Maki gasped.

"Radio..." Seiko poked Chihiro gently, handing him the silver box.

_Did you manage to get it to work?_ He wrote curiously, already fiddling around with the antenna. He turned one of the dials and frowned.

"We heard a few voices cut through the static, but they were real spooky, so I shut it off. We don't need spooks like that in our life," Kaito said. Chihiro suddenly held the radio away from him at arm's length.

"When do we go?" Himiko asked curiously.

"After lunch," Chiaki answered from her position on the porch, bowing. "More rice and fish,"

"Shaved ice too?" Kotoko asked curiously, cheering when Chiaki nodded.

After they ate, they packed their things into the van. Chiaki left a majority of the things behind in her house, but took her instruments and two kimono. She could always find materials for flower-arranging or tea ceremonies or calligraphy, but somehow leaving behind her precious shamisen and koto and triangle didn't sit well with her. The instruments were placed in the trunk and wrapped up with the neatest and best possible care.

"Goodbye!" Gonta felt the need to wave as they drove away from the house.

Chiaki gave a sad smile to Chihiro as they drove off. She wouldn't cry; she didn't even feel sad. It was a new beginning for her, just like it was for all of them. She would fulfill her calling with great pride, just as she was called to do when she was pulled from the darker points of her illness.

**#####**

**Nagasaki; July 21st, 1994**

* * *

"People are approaching," Hajime relayed to Junko, who nodded and waved her hand dismissively.

"If they're here, they'll know what to expect,"

Mahiru and Souda paused in their work to stare at the newcomers; a tall, foreign blonde in a black mourning gown and a black-haired man with a long purple scarf on despite the hot weather. The two newcomers spotted Junko and immediately bowed to her, groveling on their knees.

"Dark Mistress," They cooed.

"Nice to meet you," Junko shrugged. "Go on ahead and help. You can yell at them for not doing it right," She motioned to the girl. "Names?"

"Sonia Nevermind, Mistress," Sonia giggled. "A pleasure," She curtsied.

"And you may call me Tanaka Gundham, the name that will soon rule the world! With you guiding me, nothing is impossible!" Gundham laughed wildly.

"I've heard of you! You're a breeder! You have a special job. I miss bacon cheeseburgers and pork bowls. Go breed pigs for me, okay? Like, go find some healthy ones, and breed them! They can't have all died out!" Junko demanded.

"It will be a difficult task, but not an impossible one to breed these beasts. Yes, many perished in the plague, but a few hearty ones with darkness in their souls likely survived! Much like we did!" He carried on. "Yes, I shall help you, Dark Mistress!"

"Ugh, looks like we got a hot blonde, but did that annoying guy really have to come along too?" Souda groaned. "He yells everything,"

"He's deaf, stupid," Hajime suddenly snapped. "He can't hear himself,"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?! Deaf people all look the same!" Souda insisted.

Mahiru smiled strangely. "So, we have a deaf person. You think the other side has a deaf person too?"

"What an amazing coincidence it would be if they did!" Sonia tittered.

"I don't see anybody working!" Junko snapped. "Stop thinking about the other side and just focus on our side! _We_ are the winning side. We truly embraced our true selves, ourselves at our most despairful, which is no match for hope! Hope always dies eventually, but despair is forever," She laughed.

"Yes, Mistress!" Everyone chimed at once before they went back to work. Junko laughed and laid back on the hood of the car.

No, she wasn't worried one bit.


	7. Makoto 1: Sayaka's Journal

**Makoto Naegi 1: Sayaka's Journal**

* * *

**Somewhere Near Yokohama; July 7th, 1994**

* * *

She woke up and just somehow knew it was her birthday. There was something in the air that reminded her as such. She would be nineteen today; next year, twenty. Then she'd buy a beautiful pink and peach furisode with long sleeves and a cute little bag and get her hair done in a fancy bun pinned with flowers, and her father would begrudgingly take her picture and then walk her onto the city bus and take her to their town's temple, where they would-

Except he wouldn't. Her father was dead. So was almost everyone else, so there would be no more coming-of-age festivals for the new young adults left in Japan. All of those furisodes and kimonos still hanging in the shops, never worn; all those beers, never drunk, all those cameras, emptied of film of happy, smiling families.

She suddenly felt very saddened by that thought, and bit her lip to prevent tears from forming. Her pregnancy was making her crazy; she hadn't been this emotional before! Or was it just the stress of the world ending? She'd never know.

It was still time to get up though, so with a final stretch, she crawled over to the opening flap of her tent and curiously peeked out, wondering why it was so quiet. Surely the others would be up making breakfast by then?

Sayaka stepped outside the tent, wearing practical green sneakers and a floral housedress in yellow, glancing around. Oh, they were nowhere to be seen. Their stuff was still there, so she knew they hadn't just ditched her, but where else could they be?

Unless...

"Happy Birthday!" Makoto suddenly came up behind her and covered her eyes, making her gasp in surprise. "We all snuck out early and got you something," He explained. "And we didn't forget about Tanabata either. Here," He handed her a slip of paper and a pen, as well as a blue box of processed chocolate-chip cookies. She felt her blue eyes suddenly fill with overjoyed tears.

"M-Makoto-san..."

"Hey, you're still being formal?" He laughed awkwardly. "We already wrote our wishes down, we just needs yours. Then we'll tie them to the first big tree we see!"

"Makoto-san," She insisted, giving him a hug. "Thank you...I genuinely wasn't expecting anyone to care this much,"

"Hey, it's a special day! And you're our friend." Makoto smiled, and she smiled back.

She headed back to her tent and nibbled on a cookie, quickly writing down her wish. She folded it up neatly and handed it to Yasuhiro after breakfast, who nodded.

"I got you a lil' something too!" He exclaimed, handing her a large black notebook. She flipped through it, noticing it was empty. "You know, just in case!" He grinned, and she gave him a strange look in response as she went to finish packing up her things.

Still, it couldn't hurt to keep a journal for her future child; whoever they may be. She wouldn't be able to explain everything to them, after all, and they might believe it more if they read it themselves and formed an image in their heads.

They got on their motorcycles and sped away, only stopping to carefully tie their wishes up to a large tree. Sayaka gave them all tiny hair ribbons she had to make the wishes look prettier as they hung them up.

She briefly glanced back at hers as they sped off again.

_I just wish for a healthy and safe birth._

* * *

That had been nearly a week and a half ago, and in the meantime, they had gathered up two new survivors; a tense bookworm named Fukawa Touko and a fallen heir named Togami Byakuya. They originally declined their offer, but Makoto eased them into it in a way that made Sayaka smile. Makoto just seemed to have that effect on people. Even Hifumi had noticeably calmed down around him; the most hostile he got was just an eyeroll here and there. Certainly different from when he was threatened at gunpoint during their first meeting.

She had already filled up a few pages of her diary, mostly just about her daily travels. Touko and Makoto were arguing over something after dinner that night, and Sayaka had retired to her tent early, feeling the crinkling of the cookie package she had stowed under her pillow. She had only eaten two in the meantime.

_July 7th, 1990_

_From the Diary of Maizono Sayaka_

_Well, Yasuhiro-san gave this to me for my nineteenth birthday and suggested I start keeping it, and I decided I would. I don't know if I can really record everything in here every single day, but I'll certainly try my best. I owe it to you, after all. Yes, I'm writing this for you! My darling child, in the future, though I do not know anything about you yet, I already love you dearly._

_So, today was mainly just a lot of traveling. We managed to make it to the disease research facility but quickly doubled-back; everyone was already dead, just as Makoto-san had said. But, it wasn't all bad news. Makoto-san is now leading us to Hiroshima, spurred by these dreams he's been having of a teenage girl in a kimono, dancing. I'm a bit jealous of those dreams of his, honestly. All my dreams are just of bad things, bad people...trying to run away from a woman with her hair in an elegant bun-braid and a fantasy-style gown on, chasing me with a scalpel._

_Things will get better though, I just know they will. We managed to find a few survivors who agreed to come along with us, and Makoto-san was thrilled. Oh, today was my birthday as well; I turned nineteen today, and it was also might not be enough people left to celebrate Tanabata by the time you're alive, but you never know. It's a very beautiful mid-summer festival, where we celebrate the meeting of the princess and the cowherd; reunited at last but for one day a year. We write our wishes on slips of paper and tie them to bamboo, hoping that since Princess Orihime is happy, she will grant our wishes with her flock of magpie. There are other festival things to do; I always liked the long and cold somen they served, for children, they often put in cute star-shaped vegetables! The last time I had that was when I was fifteen and it made me feel young all over again._

_Everyone wears breezy but colourful yukata, which are lighter kimonos perfect for summer. I actually don't own one, but maybe one day, I will..._

_Memory of the Day: I used to watch a lot of TV when I was younger due to being left home alone a lot. I liked two types of shows; those comedy sketch shows where every week was a different theme and the contestants had to fit the theme as best they could; the audience was always the best part because they'd laugh and get even more into it than the contestants themselves! I also liked the idol shows where they showcased various new and popular idols weekly, being interviewed and then footage of their shows. I always wanted to be just like that, sparkling, shining, dancing, and smiling. Making other people feel happy. Perhaps I could be this world's first pop idol, huh?_

* * *

"Wake up, wake up!" Hifumi poked her urgently a few days later.

"Hmmm?" Sayaka asked sleepily, rolling over onto her side. He trembled and poked her again.

"Sayaka-sama!"

"W-What...?" It likely wasn't anything important, if it was Hifumi.

"I-It's Sir Byakuya. I...I think he might be sick,"

She froze.

"Sick...? Is it the crazies?" She whispered urgently, putting a hand subconsciously on her stomach. Maybe it still existed in the water, or the atmosphere, and she could get it still...

Hifumi shook his head. "I don't think so. This sickness is different. He was vomiting earlier, but it wasn't bloody. His stomach has swollen up in quite a ghastly way, and his fever is really high. Sir Makoto thinks he's got food poisoning,"

"Food poisoning?" She was already up despite herself. "Well, that's not so bad then.." She cut herself off. Of course it was, she scolded herself. Any kind of illness, no matter how minor, suddenly just became very deadly. They didn't have any doctors available, no medicine. If something went severely wrong...

"I think you should go outside and see what's going on. Maybe try comforting Lady Touko? She's very...antsy," He explained, and Sayaka nodded in understanding and hurried out of her tent, finding Makoto and Yasuhiro bustling around a pale and sweating Byakuya, laying in front of the fire, while Touko anxiously chewed on her thumbnail as she watched them.

"You brought someone else? Hmph! She won't be of any help! I think all her brain power went to her tits!" Touko sneered immediately upon spotting Sayaka. She blushed and frowned. "You're just as useless as they are!"

"We don't even know what he's sick with!" Yasuhiro shot back, frantic. Makoto had a studying look on his face.

"Maybe we could give him some medicine," He suggested after a time. "Like...I don't know...aspirin,"

"Are you crazy?!" Touko shrieked. "That won't do anything!"

"Shut your mouth for once, shrewd woman," Byakuya grumbled weakly. "I can get through this. It will take a lot more than a simple disease to end the life of the sole Togami heir," He adjusted his glasses.

Makoto nodded. "Are you sure you don't want medicine?"

"Quite sure,"

Sayaka went back to bed.

* * *

_July 15th, 1990_

_From the Diary of Maizono Sayaka_

_Yes, we visited that awful disease facility Makoto-san was contained in in Yokohama. At first he didn't want to go in, but at the last second changed his mind and actually led us through, keeping to the main floors and away from the bigger hallways._

This was my room_, He told us, pointing to a tiny room on the second floor. I covered my mouth in shock. _They tested on me in here almost daily.

_Hifumi-san looked like he wanted to say something, but thankfully kept it to himself this time. Makoto-san eventually turned green enough to match his eyes and dashed away, and Yasuhiro-san took over the exploration, though that may be the wrong term for it._

_We walked past a scene of a white-haired man near the entrance of the door, clearly dead, with dried blood on his chest._

Sir Makoto killed him...didn't he? _Hifumi-san trembled a bit._

Yeah, this place is pretty freaky!_ Yasuhiro-san cried. _You can just sense the bad vibes all around you!

_I frowned a bit. _Please take us out of here,

_There were no arguments to that sentiment._

_The moment I stepped back outside, I took several big gulps of fresh air and ran across the parking lot, feeling a sudden burst of energy. I noticed Makoto-san smiling at me and my cheeks felt warm. Oh, I wanted to do nothing more than just kiss him right then and there! He had truly been through some awful things, done even worse; far more than any of us, yet he still maintains his positivity. How can a mere human do that?_

_Memory of the Day: Convenience stores were quite popular. I never used them much, honestly, but sometimes in a pinch I would go down to the nearest one and get a bottle of juice. They had all kinds of great flavours there, ones you probably couldn't even imagine! I always liked the plum juice. Does that make me weird? Am I weird? The juices always were packed away nicely in their own little fridges, and when you drank it, it was still chilled and frosty and drinking it too fast could give you brainfreeze! They had more than just juice though; Sachiko loved to get a piece of strawberry shortcake when Mother and Father were both alive and they wanted to treat us that day. Much like the juice, the cake was chilled in its own little fridge too, every strawberry perfectly arranged on top._

* * *

They found an old child's sled in a garage somewhere and decided to lug Byakuya around in that; Byakuya started to protest until he literally collapsed from exhaustion and pain. Touko insisted on pulling it half of the time; Yasuhiro the other half. Sayaka anxiously played with her hair as she got back onto her motorcycle. She still wrote in her journal every day, it was really the only thing keeping her calm during everything.

"Maybe we should try to operate?" Makoto suggested to them quietly after dinner.

"Operate how? None of us are doctors!" Yasuhiro shot back. "You look like the kind of person who can't tell a person's spleen from their appendix!"

"We can't just let him die!"

"Maybe if we had a medical book..." Hifumi suggested before trailing off.

Sayaka suddenly remembered a boy in her fourth grade class who had gotten appendicitis but was right as rain just two days later. Why, sometimes when they did surgery, they just took that thing right out to make the job easier! It was nothing, it was nothing, it was nothing! Nobody died from a burst appendix!

"Nobody died from one!" Sayaka found herself yelling, hot tears streaming down her face.

"Maybe not before, but we're in a different kind of world here, Sayaka-chi," Yasuhiro shook his head.

"There has to be something..."

"The nearest hospital is back that way. I don't think he'll make it," Makoto sighed, looking away. "We're almost out of painkillers,"

Sayaka stood up and went back into her tent, feeling like she heard enough. She heard Touko's sobs from somewhere nearby but didn't comfort her for once. She had her own issues to deal with. She briefly wondered if Hifumi would follow after her, then silently prayed he wouldn't. He might've been kinder to Makoto lately, but his crush on her still hadn't quite let up no matter what she did. Shortly before they reached their original destination of Yokohama, he approached her in her tent and awkwardly implied they should have sex.

Yes, that's what it was, she wasn't going to be romantic or coy about it. She didn't really give him a straight answer, so he took it as a yes and started to do so, only to take off her shirt and dash out of the tent. She stared after him, blinking in confusion. True, she hadn't really wanted to do it with him, but she would've obliged him for one night if he kept quiet about it. So why did he just chicken out? Perhaps he still had some semblance of dignity left, or maybe he heard Makoto approaching them or something. Either way, she knew why he originally wanted to do it; to further claim her as his own property and ward Makoto off. Well, that wouldn't work. Makoto seemed like the type who wouldn't care how much past experience a girl had so long as she was kind with a good heart.

And Sayaka Maizono had it all in spades.

* * *

After lunch, Makoto and Yasuhiro left, and Sayaka kept an eye on Touko, anxiously rubbing at Byakuya's forehead with a red rag.

"He's sleeping," She hissed, and Sayaka nodded, even though she knew that they both knew he was passed-out.

"Where are the others?" Sayaka asked curiously, almost jumping when Hifumi answered her, coming up from behind. Would he try to touch her hair? She felt his hand touch her shoulder then quickly withdraw.

"They went into the next town over, looking for some...medical books. Supplies too. You know, the things that doctors use,"

Sayaka nodded, suddenly realizing their intent. She suddenly felt sick and kneeled down beside Byakuya. "Here, let me help," She tried to reach out for the cloth, but Touko held it away from her.

"He doesn't need your help. He only needs me!" She insisted.

"Touko-san...was it your idea to get medical supplies in the first place?" She pressed gently.

"W-Well...they can't just sit around being useless. If Master died...it'd be their fault, you know?! So I just thought..I just suggested..." She huffed in annoyance before giving Sayaka a strange smile. "It's like watching a dog that got hit by a car...if nothing else, you want to ease its suffering..."

Sayaka simply nodded. "So, what did you do before?" She asked sweetly. She was the kind of person who could always see the kindness in others, and beauty, no matter what. She thought Touko had a very pretty shade of hair, and quite long too. She loved long hair.

"I-I said already...I was about to start university, with a writing degree...I was already famous for writing a best-seller...b-but...it's pretty bad. So I told myself I could get better," She trembled. "I'm nineteen..."

"Oh, an author!" Sayaka smiled warmly. "How nice! I always wanted to be an idol!"

"S-Something useless," Touko sneered.

"Isn't it funny, that everyone we've encountered thus far has been a teenager? Aside from Yasuhiro-san, of course, we're all around the same age. I wonder if any other survivors we meet will be like that? Maybe the disease killed off all of the adults..."

"No, it killed off anyone useful!" Touko cried. "I-I'm just a writer! And y-you're just some stupid i-idol! And he's a writer too, in the barest sense of the word!" She pointed at Hifumi. "D-Do you know what Naegi-san did before the apocalypse? N-Nothing! He was just an average high-school student! A-And Hagakure-san was a con-man! W-Why couldn't any of us had been a doctor?!"

Sayaka tried to reach out for her, but she slapped her hand away. Hifumi gasped.

"They're back!"

Sayaka remained as Hifumi ran to greet them.

"B-Before all of this...Master never would have looked my way. He even s-said so when we first met. But I clinged to him, kept at it...k-knowing he'd have no choice...! I-I'd even have children with him! T-That's why...he can't die. He just can't. H-He's too proud for that, as am I. If he dies, it's all of your lives,"

She nodded at Touko and offered her the best reassuring smile she could muster.

* * *

Within fifteen minutes, Makoto had knocked out Byakuya again with another pain-killer and was elbows-deep in his organs, anxiously looking for the appendix.

"I see it!" Yasuhiro announced, pointing to it. "That large, red, swollen thing!"

Hifumi had retreated ten minutes earlier, now leaning against a tree with his back to the group. Touko chewed on her thumbnail, Byakuya's head in her lap, while Sayaka watched silently.

"We can get it out! We can!" Makoto tried to encourage everyone, holding out a hand. "Yasuhiro-san, scissors please,"

"Stop." Touko said quietly.

"Scissors, Yasuhiro-san! Where are the scissors?!"

"H-He's dead, you idiot! He's dead...!"

"W-What...?" Makoto asked in disbelief, his eyes wide. He very slowly lifted his hands out.

Touko looked away awkwardly, playing with her braids. "T-Thank you...anyway. I...I don't thank people, but...I suppose you aren't entirely useless. You really d-did try...t-to save Master's life,"

Makoto gave her a weak smile. "Yeah. We did. Because you're our friend, and we care about you," He then stepped over to Sayaka and pulled her into a sudden and tight hug, dirtying up her frilly blouse with blood. "It's over. It's over. It's done with. I did it because we're friends. That's why we should do anything, right?"

Sayaka just hugged him back, stunned. She had no idea what to do or say.

"Yes," She finally nodded, closing her eyes and resting her head on Makoto's shoulder.

Hifumi walked back to their group at that point and saw the two locked in an embrace and frowned a bit, narrowing his eyes.

* * *

"Wake up, wake up. Sayaka-san," A hand was shaking her gently in the dark, and Sayaka moaned a bit and rolled over. It was too early. The cookies crinkled under her pillow. "Sayaka-san, it's Touko-san,"

Her eyes shot open and she immediately sat up, staring into Makoto's worried green eyes. "I-Is she...?"

He sighed and looked away. "S-She's...she's dead. Slit her throat herself with one of the medical tools."

She gasped and her eyes widened in horror.

"I...I have to tell the others..." There were bags under his eyes. "When does it end, Sayaka-san? When will we finally be allowed to live out happy lives and not die over the simplest thing?"

"I don't know,"

They stared at each other.

She actually thought Touko was a pretty name, despite its strangeness for a girl.

* * *

_July 19th, 1994_

_From the Diary of Maizono Sayaka_

_We all sat down after dinner and had an interesting talk. Yasuhiro-san was the one who started it, of course he was, he always started the strangest conversations sometimes. Anyway, he said up-front that the shared dreams must've had some sort of physic connection. By that point, all four of us had had the dream at least once; Makoto-san has it the most. Hifumi-san, naturally, instantly disagreed with Yasuhiro-san's theory, saying there was no solid proof that physic abilities existed, only theories._

Well, how else do you explain it? Let's hear what he has to say, _Makoto-san suggested to quell disagreements. He gratefully spoke at length of all sorts of documented events where a massive accident happened and before it happened, the victims reported just feeling 'bad' or 'off' but dismissed it as something else, or had their fears dismissed. He insisted that that was proof we had some sort of deep-rooted mental power that we just ignore in our everyday life._

But since society is gone, our more primal sides are coming out. And that means our physic abilities! _He finished._

_Perhaps the summer heat is just getting to me, but I actually found his theory fascinating. Ever since I was younger, I'd just get a 'feeling' about things. I'd know what people would say before they said it, or what they were feeling. I always joked around with my friends about it, saying I was an 'esper', but...what if it wasn't a joke? Something was up with me. I looked over at Makoto-san._

You're wondering if it's true,_ I said, and he looked startled. i couldn't help but to giggle at him._

See? She knows what I'm talking about! _Yasuhiro-san insisted._

Lately, though, my dreams have become more sinister, _Makoto-san added, looking into the fire. We all awaited to hear more._ Of bad things, horrible things happening...a sickly feeling in my heart. A strawberry-blonde girl, making faces and laughing. She chases me, and tries to tempt me other times...

_I nodded, and so did Yasuhiro-san and Hifumi-san. It seemed we were all intimately familiar with the girl with the bear in her hair._

We should do something to prevent these dreams from interfering with our travels. since nightmares tire you out, I thought we could take some sleeping pills! _Hifumi-san announced._ They shouldn't be hard to come by at all!

That's a great idea! _Makoto-san praised, and Hifumi-san smiled widely._

Glad you think so, Sir Makoto!

_I smiled along, though on the inside, I was concerned. Would sleeping pills hurt my child? I had no idea, and no real way of knowing._

_Memory of the Day: A bad economic recession in the mid-eighties that put a lot of people out of jobs. I am young, but I still recall Father's worries over it. Pretty little charms you can put on your backpack, as long as the teachers don't catch you doing so; they're very strict about things like that! One girl in my Modern Japanese class in my second-year of high school wore a very pretty pair of green studs in her ears. Our teacher saw and dragged her right out of the room by her hair! So never wear such things in school, my dear. Peanut-butter and fresh fruit from the United States. I am fond of blueberries and raspberries, myself._

* * *

_July 20th; 1994_

_From the Diary of Maizono Sayaka_

_What should I refer to you as, little one? I do not know your gender yet, nor do I have any names in mind. Yet I must call you something, it feels improper to keep calling you as 'you'. Something that anyone would recognize, even you, years from now, reading this with a proper name._

_How about...momotaro? Yes, I love that. It's very cute. And it may also be improper for me to refer to you as such, as you may turn out to be a girl, but I hope you will forgive me. If you do indeed become a girl, then just 'momo' for you._

_The story of a childless couple who found a peach floating by in the river and cut it open to eat it, only to have a baby boy pop out! They named him in honor of being their first son being born from a peach. It seems fitting for you. As long as I won't have to cut open any peaches, or chop down any bamboo stalks for you, I think we will get along just fine._

_I love you, my little momotaro._

_And please tell me you only have yourself in there, I do not think I could handle twins!_

_Memory of the Day: Pop idols. Good horror movies. Watching shrine maidens happily sweep up after customers and their polite responses when you stupidly asked what the charms they sold were for. After-school clubs, like music and literature. Lighting a red lantern for our ancestors for Obon and setting it down the river. Older couples in their matching kimono, walking down the street._


	8. Makoto 2: Sayaka's Love

**Makoto Naegi 2: Sayaka's Love**

**#######**

**Gifu; July 21st; 1994**

* * *

They came across another group that late morning; their first interaction with them was the leader of their group ordering them off their motorcycles at gunpoint.

Makoto held up his hands. "Hold on, we don't have to get into a fight over it.." He smiled nervously.

"I didn't tell you to talk," The man had three other men with him, all dressed in grey, and several women that stood further behind, remaining silent.

Sayaka stared down at the ground shyly. "Makoto-san..." She commented, starting to look over at him and noticing an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. "Makoto-san...?"

"We don't want any trouble! We just want to pass through here!" Hifumi insisted, starting to panic as one of the guns was aimed at him. "D-Don't shoot!"

"Yeah, we're friendly!" Makoto insisted just as one of the women suddenly jumped up.

"Come on, now is our chance! Let's go!" She shouted, and several of the women took to running off and jumping on the men, fighting them and trying to wrestle their weapons away from them. One of the women managed to dodge the bullets shot at her by sidestepping and leaning back, and brought her foot up and kicked the guy who shot at her in the jaw, then slammed him down to the ground and tossed away his gun.

Another woman pounced on a man already down and grabbed his crotch, squeezing really hard with a curious expression on her face. The guy cried out in pain as she dashed off.

A third woman, the one who started the whole thing, was easily holding her own in a fight with the leader; she kept hitting him back and dodging his punches. She slipped a bit on the slick pavement and gasped a bit, grabbing onto the guy and slamming him down onto the ground as she fell to her knees. She breathed heavily and burst into tears suddenly as she punched the guy in the face and took away his weapon.

Those tears would haunt Sayaka for the rest of her life.

* * *

Yasuhiro came across a station wagon later on that day and said it'd make a perfect vehicle for the girls, along with their motorcycles. Sayaka thought they were becoming a regular little caravan.

"Thank you for saving us," Aoi smiled happily. She was the girl who was crying earlier.

"If it's not too personal, what are your stories? How did you end up...there?" Makoto asked. They were all sitting on picnic tables.

"Hmmmm..." Aoi started to think. She had brown hair pulled into a long, side ponytail, and a dark red tracksuit with long pants and white sneakers that Sayaka stared at. Who wore something like that in this sort of humidity? "I was mostly traveling alone, I guess that's why I was an easy target. But they didn't seem like bad guys when I came across them! They said they just wanted to give me some food!" She sighed. "I can take care of myself!"

"We outnumbered them, and they knew it. That's why they kept us relaxed with pills. But this morning, we didn't take them. Asahina-san, Umesawa-san, and another girl whose name I didn't really know, and myself, were in on it. We held them in our mouths, but spat them out when they left," A woman with lavender hair explained. She wore her hair in a single braid and wore a tight white T-shirt underneath a black babydoll dress that was very short and black thigh-high boots. Her name was Kyoko. Makoto stared at her intently. Something about her features seemed familiar...far too familiar. "The things they did to us..."

"Well, you're with us now. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but we'd like you to. We're all friends!" Sayaka smiled brightly.

Aiko Umesawa yawned a bit from her table, watching Hifumi finish his bowl of curry. "I want some curry..." She wore a yellow hoodie topped with rabbit ears over a black and grey Catholic school uniform with a stylized short skirt.

The other two girls sat with Yasuhiro, being silent; they both wore matching pink lacy dresses and white chokers with bows in their hair; one had short orange-reddish hair cut in a bob and the other had a long black ponytail.

"I thank you for not being rash. If you had pulled a weapon out, they likely would've shot all three of you and kidnapped Maizono-san," Kyoko continued, addressing Makoto.

He blushed. "O-Oh...um, well thanks. I'm not much of a fighter anyway...I just want everyone to figure out a peaceful resolution,"

"In a world like this, that might be a hard feat,"

"I like to think nothing's impossible,"

They both stared at each other warmly, and Makoto blushed more. Sayaka looked at them in shock, trying not to let her mouth hang open.

Of course they'd like each other, she figured. She liked Makoto, but she kept silent about it and hoped he'd pick up on her hints. But clearly, she had been too much of a fool! He was too naive to pick up on what she wanted from him. Not to mention; she was pregnant. Kyoko probably wasn't.

She suddenly stood up. "I'm going to go check on the other girls. Maybe they'll feel more comfortable around me," She smiled sweetly at Kyoko and Makoto before walking off, biting her lip so she wouldn't cry.

* * *

"I love you," Hifumi confessed to her the next day when they were making dinner.

"I don't love you," Sayaka sighed, watching Makoto try to show Kyoko how to make boxed curry over the fire.

"You've really never done this before?" He asked in disbelief. Kyoko shook her head.

"No, never. My grandfather made a lot of my meals for me, from scratch. Including curry. My father was actually really surprised when I confessed to him I didn't even know curry could come in boxes," She ran a hand through her hair.

"You've probably figured it out, long before I could come up with the courage to tell you, Sayaka-sama, but literature tells us sometimes it's best to just move on! After all, bad things happen to those who obsess over a love they cannot have!" Hifumi continued loudly.

"I'm...not upset, really. More disappointed. But...it doesn't matter. I do love Makoto-san, but if he wants someone else, then I respect his choice. That's what true love is," Sayaka smiled weakly.

After dinner, everyone had settled down for the night. Yasuhiro and Kyoko went to look for more food at a nearby store, while Hifumi and the remaining girls had gone to bed.

"The stars are really pretty tonight. Want to...look at them with me?" Makoto's voice came from behind her, making her jump a bit. She turned around and found him holding a soft purple blanket from inside the station wagon. "You can say no-"

"Yes!" She nodded eagerly. "I mean...yes. We haven't had very much time to relax over the past few days...so I'd really like to,"

He smiled at her and laid the blanket out gently on the grass, smoothing it out. He helped Sayaka sit down on it and sat down himself, and they stared up at the sky together.

"You can see so many stars now," He commented in awe. "So many that I don't even recognize..."

"It's because there's no more light pollution," Sayaka said before she caught herself. "I mean...it's very pretty, isn't it?" She played with her hair. She suddenly felt ill again, and her back hurt.

"Are you worried about something?" Makoto asked slowly, making her blush. She wasn't_ that_ transparent...was she?

"Just...relaxing feels strange now. We're always up on our feet, cooking, cleaning, driving, scavenging...it feels strange to just sit here and stargaze," Sayaka admitted. "I feel like any second now, I'm going to realize this is a dream and wake up,"

"It's better than some of the other dreams we've been having. Even Asahina-san and Kirigiri-san dream of the girl with the bear in her hair; Asahina-san mostly, but they also dream of Lady Nanami," He shifted his position on the blanket, blushing. "She's not in her old house in Hiroshima anymore, she's someplace else in Hiroshima,"

"I know-" Sayaka's eyes suddenly widened when Makoto gave her a knowing smile.

"You aren't taking those sleeping pills...why? Are you allergic?"

She suddenly burst out laughing. "N-No! It's..." She cut herself off and looked at Makoto. "You aren't either. Are you...afraid? Did they inject you with sleeping pills at the facility...?" Her voice lowered.

"I don't think so...though maybe. I was always unnaturally sleepy," Makoto remembered. "It's just...I get a funny feeling when I take them. Like it's something bad. So I stopped a few days ago and just dealt with the dreams. They're just dreams, they won't hurt me,"

She nodded, playing with her hair again.

"What about you?"

"...A woman has many secrets," Was all she said.

"Ummm...well, a friend of mine always said that when a woman has a secret, there's an easy way to get her to spill," He smiled awkwardly, making her laugh.

"I don't think being smooth works for you," She gasped in surprise when he suddenly lowered her down onto the blanket, unbuttoning her green khaki shirt.

"I...I'm a bit nervous," Makoto finally confessed, taking his own checkered shirt off. Sayaka giggled.

"I am too, just a bit. Be gentle," She ran her hand along his smooth chest, surprised that there weren't very many muscles there yet.

He nodded in understanding and moved his hand along her body, blushing heavily when he squeezed her breasts. She let out a sudden gasp of surprise; they were much more sensitive than she recalled. He then started to kiss her gently, and she kissed back just as sweetly. She closed her eyes and placed her hand on his cheek.

_Ah...maybe I was worried for no reason..._ She thought to herself as they finally pulled away.

Makoto took an unsure but careful hand to her breasts again, squeezing and squishing them in his hands. She moaned again, gasping.

_They fit perfectly into my hands,_ Makoto marveled, then felt his whole face burn red in embarrassment.

He then slowly unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off, carefully placing them beside his shirt. He looked at her panties, uncertain; pink with polka-dots. She gave him a reassuring smile and nod, and he slipped them down, revealing her glistening area.

"Makoto-san..." She covered her mouth a bit, suddenly feeling embarrassed about being so exposed in front of him. The cool night air felt nice against her naked area.

"Are you sure?" He asked, and she gave him a firm nod. "Are you sure?"

Sayaka took her hand and gently traced his cheek with it. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure," She gave him another kiss, and he nodded and unzipped his pants, revealing his average-length member; half-hardened. "Should I...?" She asked curiously, but Makoto shook his head quickly.

"N-No...just...it'll be fine," He reassured her, and then lined himself up with her. After getting another nod from her, he finally slipped it in, going slowly. She let out a gasp as he slipped it in, blushing.

"M-Makoto-san..." She moaned as he slowly thrust in and out of her, keeping a gentle hold on her hands. She smiled up at him. He thrust into her faster, and she moaned again, tightly grabbing onto his hands. "A-Ah...!"

They continued like that for a few more minutes until Makoto suddenly cummed into her, filling her. She let out a final gasp; it was his name. He pulled out of her, ashamed. She kissed him sweetly again.

"Makoto-san...I love you so much..." She finally admitted, and he smiled and gave her a kiss back.

"I love you too..."

"Oh, that makes me so happy..." She smiled softly, breathing heavily.

He zipped his pants back up, but left his shirt off. Sayaka slipped her panties and jeans back on but left her shirt unbuttoned. She stared down at her breasts in sudden amazement, noticing them straining at the fabric.

_I'm a little bit bigger now..._

"I didn't want to say anything because...I didn't really want Hifumi-san to make a big deal out of it. I don't think he'd do anything drastic, but..." Makoto begun, sighing. "I don't want you to think I'm thinking ill of him or anything,"

"I don't," Sayaka reassured him. "I guess...I feel like I owe it to him. We were the only two survivors of our town..."

"That was just lucky,"

"I know." She frowned a bit at him. "I don't hate him, but I don't like him either. I can't think of a single word that describes how I truly feel about him. But he's a good person, I just know it. He just needs to get over me, find a new girl.."

"Hey, how about Aiko-chan? Those two were eyeing each other the other day. I think he likes the Sailor Moon pin on her hoodie," Makoto laughed a bit. "They're the same age, I think, they'd be cute together,"

She laughed a bit at that too before she sat up a bit. "You asked me why I didn't take the sleeping pills. It's because..." She dropped her voice down into a low whisper, playing with her hair again. It was a little bit longer; she wanted to cut it. If she was still a normal teenage girl, she would get it redone at a nearby beauty salon. "I'm worried the pills would hurt my baby,"

"Oh, that makes sense," Makoto nodded, then his eyes suddenly widened as he processed her words. "Wait, you're pregnant?! I-It doesn't happen_ that_ fast, does it?!"

Sayaka smiled a humorless smile. "Yes, I'm pregnant. I've been that way for several months now," She was suddenly worried about what Makoto would do, would say. Would he be like Shuichi and feel ashamed he took advantage of another man's girl? Would he hug her? Maybe she should've told him before they made love. Sure, it likely wouldn't have happened, but then at least she wouldn't have to deal with Makoto's confused stare.

"Does anyone else know?" He finally asked, and she shook her head. "Hifumi-san?" She shook it again faster. He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Why?"

"I couldn't find the words. The last time I told someone, they..." Sayaka silenced herself, not wanting to tell Makoto that her father had slapped her in rage when she told him. She felt tears form in her eyes.

Makoto pulled her close to him, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"When are you due?"

"January..." She started to cry beside herself. "Y-You aren't upset..?"

"No, not at all," He reassured her, giving her a smile. "I'm just surprised. Um, you hid it really well...and now I feel a bit better over the fact we didn't have a condom,"

She smiled weakly, never wanting to hear that word again.

He then laid her back down on the blanket and made love to her again, and Sayaka thought she would never feel so happy again. She pulled Makoto closer to her during it, wanting to kiss him several times and commit his taste to memory.

Neither of them had any idea that Hifumi had woken up due to hearing noises and was now watching them from the bushes, concealed in the shadows, in shock. His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Sayaka cry out her orgasm in pleasure; she said Makoto's name. Once they finished, he silently slipped away, not rustling a single leaf or twig in the bushes.

* * *

_July 24th; 1994_

_From the Diary of Maizono Sayaka_

_I didn't write anything yesterday, and I'm sorry, but I was just too happy. I wanted to keep everything that had happened to myself for just a little while longer. Makoto-kun...it feels so strange to refer to him so casually, but it's well-deserved...we're in love. Well, I think we knew it since the moment we laid eyes on each other, but because of everything that's happened, we weren't able to admit it to each other._

_But a night ago, we did. What a beautiful night it was. I still recall the softness of the blanket, the white twinkling stars, the almost-full moon, our only light, the grass tickling my hands...it sounds so poetic and romantic, doesn't it? Like a teenage girl in love. Who am I fooling? I am still a teenage girl, and I am very much in love._

_We didn't make much progress today. A road we wished to take further north was clogged with cars and several buses. Kirigiri-san suggested we stop for the time being, and we all agreed. The boys also came across an interesting discovery; more weapons! Not just the typical knives and guns and whatnot, also a machine gun! I do not think I've seen one in real life before. A rocket launcher too! Both are very scary and I secretly hope we won't have to use them. Any bad guy who sees us toting those things will run the other way, I suspect!_

_Speaking of momotaro, Makoto-kun suggested I remain keeping it a secret from the others, at least for now until we reach Hiroshima. I agreed. They have a lot of things on their mind, and what better way to celebrate a new society than to announce a new potential member? He is just trying to ease my mind and is doing a very good job of it. But that's to be expected. As I said before, Makoto-kun just has a certain way about him that just makes everyone relax and listen to what he has to say, even if they don't like him. I wonder if he ever thought about being a lawyer or a judge? I think he'd be good at that job._

_Oh, they're coming back. I'll continue later._

* * *

Everyone slept soundlessly and dreamlessly for once that night, all of them aside from one: Hifumi Yamada.

Instead, he was sneaking around Sayaka's tent, watching her sleep peacefully, using a pink sweater as a pillow. Her short hair framed her face cutely, and Hifumi watched her for a time before he slowly shuffled on, unclasping the buttons of her backpack and quietly sifting through the contents, finding mainly clothes and her map.

At the bottom was the item he craved; her journal, just a simple notebook in black. What an ironic colour for someone as fair as Sayaka-sama. She'd prefer something in a nice pastel, like light pink or purple; flowers, mint green or yellow, or baby blue. Maybe even a very light red. But not black. Never, ever, black.

He froze a bit as Sayaka stirred, rolling over in her sleep so her back would be to him. He then hurried out of the tent and back to his own, pulling out his small flashlight and shining it on the first page, making note of Sayaka's small and girlish writing.

It reminded him of his own childhood, spending many nights awake in his bed, hiding under the bedsheets, reading by only flashlight, all kinds of grand stories of adventure. Many of them had been animated and shown on TV and his boyhood was filled with the adventures of sailors and soldiers and thieves, the occasional gentlewoman. It was the only time he truly felt like he belonged somewhere, as he felt as though he was a fat and ugly fool whom nobody really wanted to befriend. As he got older, his fantasies took on a more risque edge as he instead imagined himself as a ruler of his own harem, filled with the prettiest and most popular girls at his high-school, clad in nothing but silky, see-through bellydancer outfits. He'd punish them with a whip tipped with a spiky metal rose.

Both fantasies were good, he always reminded himself.

In the early hours of the morning, he hurriedly slipped Sayaka's diary back into her backpack and rushed back to his tent, closing her backpack but not redoing the buttons. If she saw, he'd just escape. Yeah, he could leave, go further north, or even start going west again.

He slept briefly, dreaming of lying on a cliffside on the side of a road; his leg broken. A damaged motorcycle lay beside him. There was something else in the dream too, a presence that beckoned him further, forward. A presence that insisted he could be powerful if he followed it to the place where others were gathering, people with evil deeds in their minds.

When it was time to wake up, he happily helped everyone cook breakfast, even giving Sayaka her own breakfast on his knees.

"For you, Sayaka-sama," He smiled softly at her.

"You're in a good mood," She noticed pleasurably, starting to eat.

"I am! It's just a nice day, you know?" He said, and she smiled.

"Yeah! We're going to get a lot of traveling done, I can feel it!"

"All good things must come to an end, you know," He said suddenly, looking at her. She gave him a weird look back, brushing it off as Hifumi just trying to be 'deep' again. She giggled as Makoto sat down next to her and smiled knowingly at the larger amount of food she had compared to him.

* * *

That night, Hifumi started to record his own journal.


	9. Nagito 1: Surprising Relationships

**Nagito 1; Surprising Relationships**

**####**

**Sendai; July 22nd, 1994**

* * *

His first dream had been of _her_; only a few days after he blew up that bridge. It was a fitful sleep before; her appearance made it a frenzied one.

She appeared to him with two bows in her hair; one red, one white, pulled up into pigtails. Her undereyes had been painted in huge amounts of red eyeshadow, and she wore a black bodysuit made out of fishnet with a skimpy black blouse and white fur shawl over it, a black belt and red micromini, and black heeled boots.

"I'll give you a good position if you join," She had insisted, showing him the lit-up city of Nagasaki. "Anything you want can be yours. You'll be second to only my right-hand man,"

He did look and saw the city she was talking about, filled with people wearing masks with a monochrome coloured bear on them and whispering about mundane topics as they did handiwork.

His heart beat rapidly in his chest as he watched further and noticed he couldn't make out what they were thinking, but a few people wore black ribbons around their necks and he could tell they seemed anxious.

"I'll join you, if only to see hope thrive," He told her, and she stomped hard on his foot. He hissed in pain.

"Join me because you want to, because you believe it is the only way," She vanished. "Nagasaki...you have to find me first,"

The second dream came a few days after that one and featured a young girl on her porch playing a koto and humming softly. She wore an all-pink furisode with green and black trim with a large flowery bow in her hair. The sleeves were so long they reached the floor. The dream felt pleasant and relaxing, and Nagito stepped further, feeling the water from the rice paddies soak into his shoes.

She stopped playing suddenly and stared straight ahead, startling Nagito with the strangeness of her eyes. She was blind; he could tell.

"You can still join me, Big Brother Nagito. You don't have to listen to her, you can still join me," She had insisted. Nagito held his hands up and walked until he stood right in front of her. Her expression was blank.

"Because you think I'm a good person? Because you think you can turn me into one?" He barked a laugh. "I made my choice,"

"You're a good person with a good heart, I can tell. There's still time for you to join my side for hope," Chiaki frowned, reaching her hand out towards him.

"Yes, your side claims to be for hope. But can hope truly exist without despair? No, I think true hope can only be born in times of great despair. Your side only welcomes hope with no despair," He recited, turning away from her.

"You don't have to join her, I know secretly you don't want to," Chiaki pouted and stared down at her koto. "You have a good heart, Big Brother Nagito,"

He woke up from that dream feeling chilly and slightly disturbed, though it hadn't been a nightmare at all. Why did he feel so uncomfortable then? He would never know that for her part, Chiaki would wake up in her house feeling a great sadness and pity for someone she did not even know.

And so Nagito continued on his journey, throwing away the dream of the blind girl and clinging to the one of the girl with the bear in her hair.

* * *

Traveling on his own for another day led him to come across a former biker that Nagito knew only as Mondo; he never ever said what his last name was. He heard him before he even saw him, the loud roaring of a motorcycle cutting through the quietness of the rest of the city. He stopped and looked ahead, thinking that if it was a motorcycle, and the owner happened to be going the same place as him, maybe it wouldn't hurt to hitch a ride, right?

Or maybe the driver would just plow right through him.

The motorcycle stopped beside him on the road; the motor still running like a caged animal.

"Hey, you need a ride?" The driver asked, dressed in a long black leather jacket decorated with gold emblems and baggy black pants with a large pompadour. "You were just standing there and staring at me, being all creepy,"

Nagito nodded. "Where are you going?"

"Nagasaki,"

"What luck! So am I!" He hurried over to the back of the motorcycle and sat down, keeping some space between him and the driver.

"Name's Mondo. With my older brother, we form the name Diamond, as in our group the Crazy Diamonds!" He boasted, showing off the name on his jacket. "Yours?"

"Komaeda Nagito," He bowed.

"Fuck kinda name is that?"

Nagito just shrugged as he was tossed a can of beer randomly.

"It'll make the ride smoother for you," Mondo explained. "And don't hold onto me so tightly. Normally I don't share, but...special circumstance, you know?" He rubbed the back of his head. "What do you think about the ride anyway? Isn't she sweet?"

"Did you make it?" Nagito slowly sipped at the beer, finding it to be warm and making a face in disgust.

"Nah, my big bro gave it to me," He revved it up. Much like its owner, the motorcycle was all black with golden wings painted onto the side, and fiery red-orange flames. The license plate just said 'Daiya' on it. "Let's get going!" He revved the motorcycle up and Nagito gripped Mondo's shoulders, and the two sped off and away.

"You have dreams of her too, don't you?" Mondo asked after a time. Nagito finished sipping the beer and was genuinely amazed he could still hear Mondo over the rushing wind.

"Yeah, she's dressed like a stylish survivor,"

"No she ain't. In mine she looks like a badass biker chick, with an arm full of sick tattoos," Mondo sped up.

"What if you hit a blockage of cars or something?" Nagito asked, thinking that with him around, they'd hit it and total the motorcycle or something.

"We can just go around! This baby has great swervage," Mondo insisted, and Nagito just nodded. "Yeah, when we get to Nagasaki though, I'm just gonna do my own thing mostly. I don't need much of anyone slowin' me down. Not even her. It'll just be me. You seem like a man who understands that," He looked back at Nagito.

"Yeah, being alone...it's truly nice at times," Was all he said.

They stopped for the night at a hotel and instantly decided to get a room that had two beds in separate rooms; one was locked but Mondo blew it open with his gun. "Good thing that worked. I'm not about to share a bed with a guy,"

Nagito just shrugged again and glanced around the hotel room, surprised that it was all untouched. Surely someone must've come up to a room like this to wait out the rest of their life, wanting to be comfortable? He certainly would.

Mondo left briefly and came back with a shopping cart full of more warm beers, immediately tossing one to Nagito. It went long and slammed against a picture, making it fall off the wall. Nagito slowly retrieved it but didn't open it.

"They're all warm, but who cares, right? My older brother used to dig warm beer. I always made fun of him for it," He took a swig of his own. "This disease thing is such bullshit. It's going to kill off everyone but me? No way that's fair,"

"Who's your older brother?" Nagito tightly clutched the hot can in his hands, feeling suddenly nervous. Mondo seemed like the kind of guy who liked to talk about himself a lot, so maybe if he just focused on doing that...

"Daiya, as I said. Moved outta our place to go live with his girl. Good on him for gettin' out while he could. I was always jealous of that. We still were close though. He moved to some place out west, Osaka or somethin'. Last time we talked he said he took some deaf-mute chick under his wing after she was robbed. Good on him. If he didn't have a girl, I bet he woulda fancied that deaf chick. Her name was Chiyo or Chisa or Chihiro or somethin' like that. Sounded like a real cute thing too, with long eyelashes and big hips. Don't look at me like that! We're both guys here, we can talk about stuff like this!" He took another swig. "It doesn't matter. My bro kicked the bucket because of the disease and so did his girl. I bet that deaf chick got sick and died too, because last I heard Osaka was completely empty of people,"

"Your brother sounds like such a good person," Nagito gingerly opened the can up and a waterfall of warm beer sprayed out, staining the bed across from him as well as part of the carpet. "Oh no, I guess I should've waited longer to open it," He laughed a bit.

"We could make a great team, me and you," Mondo suggested, opening his third can of beer. "I like ya and there's something about ya. You got a fire in ya, kid,"

"Ah, I'm honored," He drank some of the beer and did his best to hide how bad it tasted.

"Guess we gotta talk more. Hate that. Never was much for talkin' back then. Never needed to. People took one look at me and bolted. We ain't got a television in here though, so talkin' it is," Mondo motioned to the small set on the dresser. "Shame, really. I'd even watch the news at this point,"

"Well, maybe when we get to Nagasaki, you could help restore power," Nagito suggested.

Mondo laughed. "Ya kiddin'? A guy like me? No way. I ain't good at that sort of thing, nor do I ever wanna be," His accent was becoming more noticeable due to being more drunk, but Nagito couldn't place it. "Where you from?"

"Around," He randomly shook his hand in the direction of Hokkaido. "Before the disease I was in school. A school for...I guess you could say they were 'gifted',"

"Oh, so like for slow people? Are you slow?" Mondo asked, but Nagito shook his head.

"They has all kinds of people there, mainly blind or deaf people. Everyone got sick and died and I just left," He drank some more of the beer, feeling slightly dizzy-unpleasantly dizzy. He really had to pee as well.

"Yeah, that's some shit, ain't it?" Without warning, Mondo pulled out his gun and shot the television screen loudly, making it break a certain angle as the bullet lodged itself inside. "Didn't fucking work anyway," The gun then was aimed at Nagito's head, and his hands instantly shot up as a reflex. The beer can toppled and fell over, puddling at his feet. "Look, you're wastin' good fuckin' alcohol. Back then, that shit costed a lot, ya know. And ya just gonna waste it like that?"

Nagito remained still, waiting for Mondo's next move.

Mondo suddenly lowered the gun and laughed. "Nah, I'm just playin'. I wouldn't really shoot ya. As I said, ya got a fire in ya. But ya still need to pay for carelessly wastin' beer like that," He tossed another can over and nodded. "Chug that entire thing,"

"Like, all at once? Down my throat? I don't know how well that could end," Nagito still smiled as he looked the can over.

"Ya know what chuggin' is, right? Do it!"

"Okay, okay, I got the hint," Nagito very slowly pulled open the can and took a deep breath before he tilted the can, chugging it down rapidly. It wasn't very big, but his eyes watered and his lungs and stomach screamed for a stopping point. He tossed the can across the room and tightly clutched his stomach, feeling it dangerously slosh around.

"If ya hurl it, ya dead," Mondo warned just as Nagito covered his mouth and felt his stomach give a final slosh before suddenly settling down. He gave Mondo a smile and a long burp before he looked away. "Yeah! That's more like it!" He clapped Nagito on the back.

Nagito managed to smile back, but he knew he was leaving that night. Soon as Mondo passed out drunk or something, he'd leave. The man was starting to seriously worry Nagito, and he had a purpose. For once, he didn't want to die or really have anything super bad happen to him before he could complete it.

Mondo continued to yammer on as Nagito sipped from another beer, leaning his back against the chair to prevent himself from swaying too badly. At last, after what felt like several hours, Mondo tripped and collapsed in the nearby bed, spilling his half-full can of beer on the floor. It was time for him to leave, but somehow, sleep seemed far more inviting at that moment. And a short little nap would be fine, right?

Nagito stood up silently and tiptoed into the adjacent room, setting a wind-up alarm clock he found on the nightstand for six in the morning. According to the clock, it was midnight, but he of course had no way to confirm that, nor did it really matter. He then collapsed into bed himself, pulling his jacket closer around his form.

* * *

He woke up a few hours later to feel something hot and squirmy worming around in bed with him and started to sit up, his head pounding, trying to figure out what had happened when a firm hand grabbed him and shoved him back down onto the bed.

"Hey, ya should jerk me off. It ain't gay if you are the one havin' it done, ya know? So do it," Mondo demanded, pulling on Nagito's hand and placing it firmly onto his crotch, letting him feel the warm and hardened bulge there. "Tell anyone 'bout this though, and I'll kill ya,"

He tried to take his hand away, but Mondo tightened his grip and made him wince. His eyes were starting to hurt.

"Fine, fine, just calm down," Nagito tried to tease, still feeling sick. He laid himself down fully on the bed and slowly unbuckled Mondo's pants and unzipped them, clutching his member in the dark and slowly pumping his hand up and down.

"Ya know what to do. I shoulda known. Ya look like that kinda guy, ya know?" Mondo commented, his breaths becoming more ragged. Nagito did indeed know what to do, spending as much time in a special school as he did. The teachers there often said it was a bad thing to do, or strange, but Nagito never minded. It was all just harmless fun in the end, and it secretly felt right to him. And surely there were far worse things in the world, right? Like murderers and rapists and people who molested children. Jerking someone off was nothing compared to all that.

He pumped faster, feeling Mondo's hips thrust to his rhythm when he noticed Mondo pulling his pants and underwear down the rest of the way. He ignored that and kept going, thinking it'd be fine if Mondo wanted to slip it in him. He had had that done to him before as well, and it only hurt if you didn't take the right precautions.

Then he froze when he felt something cold and hard and made from steel press up against his anus, suddenly realizing what it was.

"No," He managed to call out, but Mondo grinned.

"Yeah, and ya better keep at it too, 'cuz if ya miss one motherfucking stroke, I'll blow you sky-high. Ya wouldn't want that, would ya?"

He shook his head and pumped faster, getting shivers from the feeling of cold metal pressed up so closely at an intimate place. It was actually starting to excite him in a way as well.

"I knew ya'd like it. Bet ya want me to jerk ya off too, huh?" Mondo asked. Nagito didn't want Mondo to keep touching him, but still answered yes. Mondo laughed. "I ain't touchin' a guy's dick, that's gay. Ya can do that shit yourself,"

Nagito nodded and slowly brought his other hand down to his crotch, feeling his throbbing erection and wrapping the hand around it. He then started to pump it in the same rapid rhythm he was doing Mondo's, ignoring his ragged breathing.

Nagito wasn't sure how long it went on for; it felt like hours but it could've only been a few minutes. There was a sudden pause and Mondo shuddered, then the gun was removed and there was suddenly a sticky feeling on Nagito's hand. Mondo rolled back over and was asleep again. He tried to crawl out of bed but could barely muster up the energy, finding his head constantly falling against the pillow. A little bit of sleep wouldn't hurt, right?

When he dreamed, he dreamed of_ her_ again, surrounded by wolves and holding a whip.

"Are you going to use that on me?" He found himself asking as she stepped closer.

"No, it's for someone else. Someone who has proved to me to be...not worthy. I want him to be gone," She sighed dramatically and ran her hand down Nagito's face; he stared in fascination at her seductive red nails, almost sharpened like claws. "You would like that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," He nodded eagerly.

He then woke up early in the morning with sunlight streaming in, finding Mondo in his own room in the middle of brushing his hair.

"Come on, we're burnin' daylight! I want us to make good progress today! Somethin' good will happen today, I just know it!" He grinned and Nagito found himself grinning back.

"I know,"

He thought of his dream.

* * *

The motorcycle sped off until it suddenly slowed down a bit, and Nagito gazed ahead a bit groggily.

"Shit, there's so many cars backed up in the road! There's no way to drive around," Mondo grumbled. "And we can't turn around..."

Nagito just shrugged when he heard the motorcycle rev up again. "Hm?"

"One of those cars is knocked over. It looks like a ramp. I think I can jump it!" Mondo announced, revving the motorcycle up more and speeding it towards the tilted car. Nagito felt giddy with sickness and excitement. He tightly grabbed onto Mondo.

"You'll probably wreck your bike!" He managed to call out as they drove right up the car bumpily, flying through the air and landing hard on the other side; dangerously swerving before Mondo managed to take control again.

"See? Ain't nothing to it at all," He smirked. Nagito nodded.

"I'm impressed your bike didn't total,"

"She would never! She's the sturdiest bike ever,"

* * *

After driving for a bit, the bad luck struck again when they came across a several mile-long bridge with another large pileup around it and inside it. Mondo groaned and got off his bike.

"We'll have to find some other car and drive that for a bit, just to get through the bridge," He suggested, and Nagito nodded. "Start lookin'!"

Nagtio nodded again and slid off the bike, briefly scanning the pileup for anything he thought looked suitable. But would Mondo like it? Wait, did it even matter if Mondo liked it or not?

"Here, we'll take this!" Mondo waved Nagito over, motioning to a tiny dark green car. He opened the door and rummaged around in it; Nagito stepped closer in curiosity. Mondo then came out with a deceased teenage girl; carrying the corpse bridal-style and gently laying her down on the road. Her head lobbed to one side, revealing her sunken-in eyes. "Get in," He ordered, and Nagito just stepped closer, eyeing the girl.

"You were gentle with her,"

"Well, yeah. She's still just a chick, even if she's dead. Now get in!"

"No." Nagito paused as he heard the sudden growling of a wolf, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Fuck ya mean, no? Get in," Mondo noticed the sound too, and soon saw them; a group of about ten or twenty wolves charging at them from the hill. "Shit!"

The wolves all gathered around Mondo, growling and snapping. A few wolves hurried over to Nagito, and he hesitated as he placed his hand on one. It whimpered slightly, but didn't move. He looked into its eyes and saw the icy hotness of blue; her blue eyes. He immediately knew who sent them.

"Hey, they aren't attackin' ya! Make them get away from me too!" Mondo commanded, being backed into the back of the car. "I could take on a few, but not this many!"

"No," Nagito shook his head, surprising even himself. "You aren't worth it anymore," He shrugged and started to walk away, a few wolves happily following him.

"Get back here! Fuck you, man! Get back here!" Mondo yelled after Nagito, and feeling a sudden rush, Nagito answered back by flipping him a rude gesture on both hands. He then took off running, suddenly gaining speed. He laughed, knowing Mondo was far behind him then. He had no clue what would become of Mondo after that; starvation or being mauled or maybe even escaping...oh it didn't matter.

Nagito was finally free to head to Nagasaki himself.

After he ran for a bit, he collapsed firmly on the ground and passed-out, thinking a quick prayer to Junko before he completely lost consciousness. She had saved his life, and he would be fully hers.

...Even if that idea made him feel just a tiny bit ill-at-ease.

* * *

Nagito hitched a ride on one of the recently-repaired boats and collapsed right on the beach of Nagasaki, gasping a bit. His tongue felt cracked and hard and his throat felt like metal. His head spun. He needed water...he slowly looked up when he felt someone's presence and beheld the image of a man around his age staring down at him in slight disgust.

His eyes...one was a strong green; the other, a vivid red.

"Are you alright? Hey, hey, are you alright?" The man snapped his fingers around Nagito, sounding impatient.

Nagito had enough strength left in him to nod slowly.

"You washed-up on the beach a few hours ago. I tried to get someone else to get you, but none would. Lucky me, I guess," He continued. "Well, you're at the right place. Must be, if you came here."

"W-Where's...her? Where is she?" Nagito swallowed.

"Not here. None of us ever get to see her when she's not ready. She comes to _us_ when she's ready," The man rolled his eyes. He wore a finely-tailored red suit. "You thirsty?"

He nodded and the man handed him a pitcher full of fruit juice; Nagito drank it greedily, gasping for breath afterwards. He put a hand on his stomach. "Oh, you are such a kind person to do this for me!"

The man rolled his eyes again, taking the pitcher back. "Think you can eat?"

"I would love to eat,"

The man turned around to address another with pink hair, staring idly at a shell he dug up from the sand. "Kazuichi-san! Go tell Mahiru-san or Teruteru-san to make him some food. A burger, maybe? No, he'll puke that up. Ramen. Really light ramen in a light broth. Think you can eat that?" He addressed Nagito, who nodded. Souda nodded and took off running. "We got a cook here, Teruteru-san. Most annoying and perverted person I've met, but...I cannot deny he has skills in the kitchen. He made me beef stew once and I nearly cried, it was so good," He slipped his hands in his pockets. "What's your name?"

"Komaeda Nagito," He was fully standing by that point; he swayed, and gave a weak bow. Hajime returned it.

"Hinata Hajime,"

"Hinata-kun," Nagito recited blissfully.

"No." Hajime gave him a dirty look. "Hinata-san or nothing,"

"Oh well," Nagito still smiled, throwing up his hands.

"With a name like that though, you were probably nobility or something," Hajime twirled a strand of his brown hair around on his finger. "After you eat, we can get you all set up with a room, and then decide where you should go. In terms of a job. We have a few people restoring power, some restoring water, some scouting parties...it all really depends on what you're good at,"

"I'll do whatever is needed," Nagito responded just as Souda came back to Hajime, holding a plate of ramen with a tiny burger on the side.

"Look, he gave you a burger after all. They're good. And not spoiled, don't worry about that," He handed it to Nagito, who started eating. "I have to get going, but one of the others would be happy to help fill you in my absence. I'm kinda like her right-hand man, you know? So I always have work to do."

"Thank you," Nagito continued to eat, not even noticing the rocky texture of the burger.

"For once, I'll say to thank her. And I'll never say it again," Hajime walked off after that, leaving Nagito alone on the beach. He finished eating his food in silence; the ramen being pink and tasting slightly of shrimp.

* * *

He was given a room on one of the top floors of the hotel; it overlooked the beach and had a giant mirror and silken bed. He slept peacefully that night and woke up to Hajime knocking on the door and letting himself in.

"Got you some new clothes," He motioned to the pile in his hands.

"Can I still wear this?" Nagito tightened his grip on his green hoodie as Hajime tossed the clothes at him.

"Sure, whatever. I didn't know your size so I just guessed,"

"I'm sure they'll fit wonderfully," He changed in the bathroom and found a pair of grey jeans, brown shoes, a white patterned T-shirt; the jeans had a belt and chain attached. He slipped his hoodie back on and met up with Hajime again.

"Looks like all you needed was some food and water and sleep. Speaking of which, come eat breakfast with us. It's very good, a buffet-type of thing with both Japanese and Western food. Teruteru-san makes it," He explained, leading the way for Nagito.

The dining room was a small breakfast room on the hotel's ground floor that had been refitted with a better kitchen and buffet. Four people sat at the table already, and Nagito paused in the doorway.

"Whenever you're ready," Hajime just waved and got a tray.

He couldn't go in there. They'd all start laughing at him, he bet. Because of his talent, because of his stupid amounts of luck, because of his appearance-there's always something. Still, he was hungry, so with shuffling footsteps, he walked over to the buffet and just got a bowl of rice with miso soup and a small salad.

"Your food is very good," Nagito still complimented Teruteru, noticing him cleaning a knife off. "You really are the best cook around,"

"Why, thank you!" He turned around to give Nagito a grin. "Just call me 'chef' and we'll get along just fine,"

Nagito just nodded and slowly took a seat at the table, sitting across from Hajime. Two sat across from the other two, and they all glanced at Nagito curiously.

"Everyone, Komaeda Nagito. This is Souda Kazuichi, Koizumi Mahiru, Tanaka Gundham, and Sonia Nevermind," Hajime nodded at each person, and Nagito offered a shy smile.

"Oh, you partake in a Japanese-style breakfast? How lovely! I have always wanted to try one!" Sonia smiled with stars in her eyes; hair up in a bun with a white frilly blouse and long black Victorian skirt on.

"I'm afraid it doesn't taste as good as you think it does, Sonia-sama," He laughed, and the group froze for a bit before they started laughing. He tightened his grip on his chopsticks, only then realizing everyone else had ham and eggs. Oh, he was such a fool for thinking he could blend in.

"He called you -sama! You radiate that royal energy so much," Mahiru teased Sonia. She wore a crooked brown Fedora and plaid pea-coat that made her look like an old-timey detective. In a flash, she had grabbed her purple instant camera and snapped a photo of Nagito, grabbing the picture before it could fall into her food.

"Everyone is laughing...but not at me?" Nagito sighed a bit, feeling wondrously, suddenly, drunk.

"She doesn't like being referred to so formally," Hajime explained.

"But you gave me my first good laugh of the week!" Sonia reassured him.

"Now I see why our Empress Of Evil spoke of you so highly," Gundham nodded, wearing a long purple robe and black cloak with a purple scarf.

Nagito froze a bit at that. Why him, specifically? Surely there was someone better in her group she could shower praise onto.

"Ignore him, he yells everything," Souda whispered to Nagito, wearing a neon orange mechanic suit.

"Only because he's deaf and can't hear himself. We went over this," Mahiru sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I just don't like it when guys suddenly start shouting!" He looked over at Nagito again. "Do you shout?"

"No, not often," He shook his head and Souda's eyes lit up.

"Then we're going to be great friends!"

* * *

Two days later, Nagito was stopped after breakfast by Hajime, who informed him Junko had returned and asked for him personally.

"Why would she ask for someone like me?" He mused.

"She just says you're important. But we have something more important to do," He motioned Nagito outside to where a group of people had already gathered; Souda and Sonia eagerly waved him over.

"What's going on?" He asked, finding Teruteru and someone else he didn't readily recognize setting up a cross.

"We caught someone being bad, oh yes we did! He was being super bad!" One of the newer recruits grinned.

"And since he was bad, that means it's time for a punishment," Hajime finished, watching as the man was dragged outside; stark-naked. Nagito felt his eyes widen as the man was laid on top of the cross, his limbs spread-out.

"In the community of New Nagasaki established under the watchful eye of our beloved Mistress, Enoshima Junko-sama, we declare that anyone caught doing drugs will be dealt with and punished swiftly. Drugs prevent the community from working together and being productive," Hajime read from a paper.

"I'm sure almost all of you have drugs somewhere on you too!" The man snapped just as Souda pulled something out of his pocket.

"Look, take it. He won't be needing it anymore," A grey skull on a gold chain. Nagito stared at it, transfixed on the way the sun caught it. "Only us higher-ups get to wear these anyway,"

"You'll match!" Sonia tittered.

"Due to being caught, a suitable punishment will be given to the guilty party. So, get ready for it, everyone. It's punishment time!" Hajime finished reading and watched as the man's palms were nailed to the cross; blood pouring down and him screaming.

"Isn't this exciting?" Mahiru blushed as she took a picture. Nagito took a sudden step back.

Everything...was...wrong. But...at the same time, they were doing it for hope, right? People who disrupted the peace had to be punished; that was the way the world worked.

He slowly reached for the chain and tied it around his neck.

Sorry, Chiaki. This is all for hope.

Sonia was handed a torch and she smiled wickedly, holding it out to Nagito. "Perhaps you would care to do the honors?"

"Yes," Nagito took the torch from her and set fire to the wooden cross, heading the screams grow louder as they meshed with the fire's crackling. He took a step back to admire his handiwork.

All for hope.

* * *

Afterwards, Hajime and Nagito went up the stairs to the tallest part of the hotel; decorated in hot pink and flashing stage lights and even a carousel. Hajime nudged Nagito in further, and Nagito slowly bowed, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

"Enoshima-sama," He still breathed.

"Nagito-kun! I've heard a great many things about you," She was shrouded in shadows, propped up on a pink throne. "I have a very important thing for you to do," She leaned forward and brushed her fingers against his cheek; he shied away. She frowned. "Hm. It's a totes important thing though! Only you can do it!"

He tensed up, looking out the window instead of at her. Why did he feel so entranced by that simple phrase?

"Yes,"

It was all for hope.


	10. Leon 2: Soldier's Heart

**Leon 2: Soldier's Heart and Pianist's Dreams**

**#####**

**Kobe; August 2nd, 1994**

* * *

Kaede woke up later in the night and walked around their makeshift camp, crossing her arms under her chest slightly and pouting. She had woken up because the space next to her was cold and empty; she had a pretty good idea of where _he_ had went too.

She could just see him now, sitting on a rock and taking long drags of his cigarette, staring up into the night sky, thinking himself a poet of some sort. He was a far better musician than a poet, or so he said. Mukuro, the woman who had traveled with him for a bit before Kaede herself found them, insisted he had talent and drive, but no real motivation. Her heart clenched and she turned around, walking in another direction. She found Koichi leaning against a tree and walked over to him; standing beside him, silent.

Their tiny group had grown massively in the month they had been traveling out on the road; not only having Koichi Kizakura but others, such as a muscular woman and her just-as-muscular boyfriend; Kenshiro and Sakura, the grandson of the shamed Prime Minister, Kiyotaka Ishimaru; she heard rumors the man admitted his wrongdoings and took full responsibility for the destruction unleashed onto the world before killing himself. There was also Masaru, an energetic little boy who latched onto blue-haired Taro the moment they met; Mukuro was happy and thought more interaction with children would get him out of his shell. There was also another couple; Kaede knew they had both been opera singers and part of their school's Student Council before the pandemic, with a very romantic outlook on life. The girl had blonde locks tied back with a small heart-shaped clip and was named Tsubasa. Kaede thought that was a pretty name. Tsubasa liked to wash out her curls every morning in cold lake water and toss a football around with Masaru.

And those were only the ones she spent the most time with. There were still so many more she felt she would never properly introduce herself to them all. They were such a strange group, but they were all each other's. She liked that; everyone had someone else they could turn to.

She looked back over at Koichi, noticing him reading a book of poetry; small and spread-out in his lap.

"Can you even see? You might hurt your eyes," Kaede asked, and Koichi grinned at her.

"The starlight is perfect for this sort of thing, especially now. They're so bright, and so many of them now, they outshine even a flashlight,"

"I just don't want you to strain your eyes,"

"Life tells us that we should be happy with things that are imperfect, as nature itself is imperfect and not perfect," He read instead, making Kaede stare. "You have things on your mind,"

"He tosses and turns all night long, and I don't know how to help him. Sometimes he doesn't even sleep and gets up, smoking," She said, looking down at her diamond bracelet.

"What do you think is wrong? You're a very perceptive person, Akamatsu-chan," Koichi pressed.

"I think he's in love," She said simply. "It's not the dreams, it can't be. We all take sleeping pills to ward them off, and besides, last time we talked about them, he said they were all good. I think the only one who still has them are Taro-chan, but he's a little boy and sensitive," And with that, she stood up and walked off, looking around for Leon and soon finding him sitting on a nearby rock, looking up at the sky, smoking. She smiled a rueful smile; she was right, as always.

"What are you doing up?" Leon asked curiously, looking back at her and scooting over to make room. She sat down softly and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

"It was cold in my tent," She said, looking up at the stars. They were so close to Hiroshima now, so close. She could feel it. If they kept on their path, they'd reach Hiroshima by afternoon tomorrow.

She still remembered when they left the abandoned disease research facility in Yokohama, and Mukuro suggested they get a radio and see if they could get it working. She had experience with Walkie-Talkies due to her time on the battlefield and could be helpful. Leon instantly agreed with the idea, and Kaede agreed it was a good one. When they found one, their group consisted of just Ishimaru and Tsubasa and her boyfriend. The radio was one of those older ones with an antennae, and Kaede felt nostalgic looking at it; her brother-in-law had one in his room.

Leon and Mukuro messed around with the signals as they walked, and they soon heard a static-y voice on the other end. He identified himself as Kaito Momota and said he was one of the first settlers in a small community in Hiroshima that was increasing every day. He admitted with some embarrassment that the name they picked for the community; Hope's Peak, was more of a work-in-progress, but Kaede loved the name. She also liked Kaito's optimism and found she couldn't wait to meet him at Hope's Peak.

Mukuro loved the name even more than she did and nodded gratefully at it, saying too quickly her dreams were telling her to head to Hiroshima.

"But you said you didn't have any dreams," Leon turned on her, smiling. Mukuro looked away, suddenly pulling a knife out at him.

"I don't. Slip of the tongue," She responded. Taro stared at her in wide-eyed fear. Ishimaru had to diffuse the situation.

As they walked along the trail, they amassed more and more survivors who all dreamed of the same girl; Chiaki Nanami, and soon learned from listening to the radio that she was the first to arrive at Hope's Peak with her own small group of survivors. It was a good thing that Hifumi Yamada man wrote those directions down on that building, someone said later.

Kaede remembered the girl in her dreams as Lady Nanami; she could never call her Chiaki Nanami as some others did.

"I think she's lying. She didn't have a slip of the tongue. She _has_ dreams, they're just nightmares," Kaede said after a time. Leon had finished smoking and was sitting next to her in silence.

"Nightmares about what? About_ her_?" His voice was hushed.

"Maybe, maybe not. I hear her talking in her sleep sometimes. She pulls at her hair and says things like: 'please stop, don't do that, don't touch me, please, it wasn't supposed to happen like this', and she moans. It scares me," Kaede admitted. "She seems so...unraveled. She's a soldier, yet she's really jumpy and trigger-happy. I'm afraid of her suddenly slitting someone's throat in self-defense." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Kuwata-kun, I know I shouldn't talk ill of other people..."

"No, there's definitely something off about her," Leon agreed. "She wasn't healthy-looking when we first met, but she somehow looks worse. Bags under her eyes and her hair is disheveled."

Kaede played with her diamond bracelet. The other day, Leon told her that every Japanese girl could be as wealthy as a queen; no more grueling hours or underpaid labor. Accessories as far as the eye could see, and they were all for her.

"I think she's in love with you," She announced. "The way she looks at you when you're not looking..but I think she's afraid, too. Afraid of having you. I think she has someone else in her life, who's preventing her from doing what she wants,"

"How can you tell?" Leon asked.

"An old friend of mine in high school was like her. Her husband was in the military, American, stationed overseas. He told her that she'd get in trouble if he ever caught wind of her being with another guy. But he was always overseas. One day, she met another guy, and they were a good match. But she became paranoid and jumped at every little thing, thinking it was her husband coming home. She became a husk of her former self. Ikusaba-san reminds me of her. I don't know where her husband or whoever this is, but...they're clearly not here,"

Leon just nodded as he listened to her. "Uh-huh," He remembered a few days prior, when he tried to take Mukuro again, and for a brief moment, her expression softened before she suddenly turned away, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"No," She had said. "Please stop. If you don't, I'll have to kill you. I'll take Taro-chan, kill you, and run away,"

"Why does it matter so much?" Leon had demanded. "Just tell me! Stop being so secretive all the time! You ain't married or anything like that!"

"I can't tell you. I just can't,"

So Leon just gave up on trying to pursue her in that way.

"Let's just go back to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow," Leon said to Kaede then, looking at her.

"Yes. Bed." And then she burst into tears.

"Hey, what's all this?! I didn't even do anything!" Leon freaked-out, trying to hold her hands. She moved away from him.

"Stop acting like you love me like you do Ikusaba-san, Kuwata-kun. I'm already doing everything I possibly can for you," She cried. "You just want someone to keep you warm while you chase after her,"

"Kaede-chan," He grabbed onto her shoulders. "Kaede-chan," He tried again, realizing he was too tired to properly refute her statement.

"If you ever manage to get her, then...I'm happy for you. I don't hold grudges, I'm too kind of a person. I believe everyone has goodness in them, and I don't think you're a bad person for wanting her. Just...don't be too disappointed," She rubbed her eyes.

Leon waited.

"Love is an important thing to have in your life, Kuwata-kun, especially now. I just don't want either of you to get hurt. You can't stop me from thinking that," Kaede stood up and finished rubbing her eyes. Leon stood up with her and gently held her close, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"I love you,"

"I know you do," She gave him a weak smile, and they walked back to their camp together with his arm around her. She crawled into their tent first, with him following. They made love awkwardly before going to sleep for the remainder of the night.

* * *

Mukuro hugged herself tightly as she wandered a few ways off from the camp, knowing she'd be back at a moment's notice if they needed her. She had trained ears and eyes; she'd know if someone required her assistance. She still wore that schoolgirl outfit Kaede got for her a month ago; it had only been washed four times. She still wore the little bow in her hair, even. She had no clue why. Perhaps it was because Leon seemed so appreciative of it when she put it on that returning to her plain cargo clothes didn't seem as appealing afterwards. Somebody actually appreciates the way that she looks.

She was born on Enoshima Island, a resort with a lovely beach and temple. Well, it made sense for one to be born there, looking back, and she wouldn't have been concerned if she learned she was conceived there as well. Both her and her younger sister were, in fact; born to Mr. and Mrs. Ikusaba.

Despite being the younger twin, Junko was always the more popular one. Bright, perky, fashionable, beautiful. While Mukuro was plain, quiet, steady, awkward. Junko looked like their parents to a T with her brilliant hair and eyes, while Mukuro resembled a distant cousin, and even then that only explained her freckles. Junko was the popular one; Mukuro was not. Even her name was popular; there were always at least two Junkos in a class at any given time. Unlike her literal corpse of a name.

Mukuro soon found that being unpopular suited her needs better. The family moved around a lot; never staying in one place for long. Mukuro learned a lot about the region and discovered an early love for the military. She was always envious of other nations, especially America; they got to have their own military force while she just had the Self-Defense Force. While Junko spent her days putting on makeup and striking poses in the mirror, Mukuro spent her days studying the best weapons and writing to military magazines about her observations; she even won an award at one point.

Life turned upside-down when her parents ran out of money at one point and they were kicked to the streets. Junko took it quite hard, but Mukuro barely noticed. And Junko managed to have enough saved up to help them buy a new house in a few months anyway, so she didn't understand the fuss. Junko just wanted to be a drama-queen. Having made her decision, during a family vacation to France, she faked her own kidnapping and took off, joining up with a foreign mercenary group who stationed her in the Middle East once she came of age-eighteen, as it was in their eyes.

Junko continued to spend time with her, pushing her around. Mukuro had developed an admiration of sorts for her younger sister; a twisted, dark obsession for her. She swore to herself she'd die for Junko, if need be. She'd follow her to the ends of the earth. She was awful, but she still loved Mukuro, in her own twisted way. And Mukuro returned that love, again, in her own twisted way. At that point, she had already known that she was promised to another; Junko told her so almost every night. A man, tall and dark, with a mysterious agenda. Mukuro was fascinated. Junko promised both were unwanted, unloved, and capable of dangerous things.

Mukuro would feel him, sometimes, when she was polishing her knives or playing with the rice inbetween her chopsticks from her ration box. A sort of dangerous chill would go down her spine. She had no idea what he looked like, even, just that he'd be an ideal Japanese man. Young; college-age, with a taste for nori wrapped neatly on top of rice-balls and sweetened wagashi served with a side of green tea, brewed to perfection. A love for silky pink kimono printed in the spring-time flair of cherry-blossoms and plums, a matching kanzashi in the hair, trimmed with seasonal flowers to match and smelling just as sweet. That was who she was promised to. But when would he come for her?

Perhaps he didn't exist. Feeling him was one thing, but she hadn't actually seen him. Junko just promised they'd meet several months before the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, trying to be all cryptic.

That was part of the reason why Mukuro longed to latch onto Leon. She didn't love him, not at all-but the idea of being with him was enticing. He was ambitious and hot-headed, sure, but he radiated hope. Anyone could see that. So much hope that if Junko ever met him, she'd probably balk and chase him away with a mallet.

If she ended up with Leon in one way or another, she would become surrounded with that hope too, and then Junko wouldn't be able to touch her.

The others had dreams, she knew, of both her sister and the blind girl. She had never dreamed of Chiaki; only of Junko.

She had a chance now. If she went to Chiaki Nanami, she would have a chance to turn her life around and stop being a slave to her sister, to her mysterious groom. She could be with Leon, and be filled with the same hope as him. Hope's Peak...what a fitting name. Junko wouldn't be able to touch her there, she wouldn't. She had no idea if Chiaki Nanami would even accept her, but it was her last chance; she had to at least try.

She looked up at the sky and played with the bow in her hair again. She shivered; still unused to how chilly the nights in Japan could get, even in the summer. She needed to head back to camp.

As she passed by a tree, she hiked up her skirt and threw down her tights and underwear in one motion, spraying her stream onto the bark, standing up. Afterwards, she adjusted her clothes and ran her fingers along her lips. They were chapped.

Maybe Kaede had some left-over lip balm she could borrow, she always seemed like the type.

A shooting star whizzed by in the sky and Mukuro was reminded of the meteor shower she saw a month ago; July 6th, she believed. Feeling suddenly foolish, she made a wish on it before she walked back to camp.

_Let everything work out._


	11. Makoto 3: Discussions, Discussions

**Author's Note:** Double-post today because next week is Thanksgiving Break I think, so I may not be able to post, plus I wanted to get this next part started.

* * *

_Baby, we built this house on memories._  
_Take my picture now, shake it 'til you see it!_  
_And when your fantasies,_  
_Become your legacies,_  
_Promise me a place_  
_In the House of Memories!_

**Part 4; Community; August 3rd-August 30th, 1994**  
**Makoto 3: Discussions, Discussions**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; August 3rd, 1994**

* * *

Makoto and Yasuhiro sat on a hill overlooking the sunrise, a bottle of sake inbetween them. It was nearly gone by that point. "You've got something on your mind, I can tell! I can see it in your eyes!" Yasuhiro suddenly announced, making Makoto startle a bit. "So tell me! What are you thinking about?"

He shrugged. "The same thing that Fujisaki-san wonders, I suppose. About the community. Will we really be able to get it up and running? I think so, but...some other people here haven't been as hopeful,"

"Where-ever people are, if there's enough of them, a society will inevitably form. It's like a rule! We already have four-hundred people here, and I bet that number will skyrocket to eight-thousand by New Year's,"

"Eight-thousand?!" Makoto asked in disbelief. "There's no way. We never came across any group that big while we were traveling,"

"Japan is_-was,_ a very densely-populated place. I think most people took a different path than us, or were distrustful," Yasuhiro mused.

"Eight-thousand people...Kaito-san says through his radio, he's connecting with five or six other groups and telling them where to go," Makoto said. "By the time they get here, that'll be another hundred," He then smiled. "It's always funny when he talks to them through the radio around Lady Nanami because she gets very confused and takes it from him, talking into the speaker and trying to adjust the antenna,"

"Don't mock her! She's just an isolated blind girl!" They both laughed.

"Sayaka-chan absolutely adores her, you know. I think everyone here does. They love and adore her. Likely for different reasons of their own, but I think Sayaka-chan likes her because she wanted another girl around her age to talk to,"

"That eight-thousand people is just an estimate though. Many will die in the winter, and others died in murders and accidents and suicides. People might still die here, we don't have many resources available. Kimura-san is just a pharmacist. Dude, we need to seriously think of getting around to finding an actual doctor and surgeon and things like that. Lady Nanami knows a bit of healing too, but mostly old-fashioned stuff. I'd love to see them try to help you after you fall and break your head open!" He pointed at Makoto aggressively. "Don't forget what happened to Togami-san!"

Makoto silently bowed his head for a moment, remembering both Byakuya and Touko.

"By next spring, we could have close to million people here, I guess. We'd need to move them all out into the smaller countryside around here. This town seems large now, but it'll fill up soon, dude! Then it'll burst to the seams! We've already got people sharing houses!" Yasuhiro continued.

"You really think we'll get all of those people?"

"I know so. Because we're on the side of good, and like I told you before, that girl with the bear in her hair is clearly evil. She's just trouble, bad news, whatever you want to say. I thoroughly believe she's as real as Lady Nanami is, which means we're going to have to prepare ourselves hardcore for her final battle!" He thought for a moment. "I'm going to say this in good faith as a drunken man. I think she might get all of the...useful talents. I mean, I don't really know what she's got over there, but...I see things in my dreams sometimes, as you know. I believe by the winter, she'll have herself a mechanic, an inventor, a breeder, a nurse, things like that. People like that, they don't care much for morals or ethics. They'll just go to where-ever they're needed, since they've got important jobs. Which means her city is likely already up and running while we're still trying to gather ourselves up! Oh man, she's probably going to show up here in the winter with some sort of weapon and crush us all!"

Makoto tried to calm him down, taking another sip of sake. "We're not entirely useless though. We have Kimura-san, a pharmacist, yes, but she can easily be retrained into other areas of medicine. We've got Ishimaru-san, who could be a good leader in reconstruction efforts. Fujisaki-san and Gekkogahara-san are both programmers. Disabled, yes, but they can just blink and a computer will unlock itself, they're that good. And we can train the others," He said in a reassuring tone.

"Yeah, but that'll take time. Time we don't have! She's a good motivator. She takes in those shunned by society. Those with darkness in their hearts. She could order them to work night and day without rest and they'd listen. I'm terrified of that, Makoto-chi, terrified as I think about them just south of us, over the sea, working endlessly and tirelessly. She might even have planes working now, or boats, or something to destroy us with," Yasuhiro swigged down the last of the sake.

"When do you think she'll arrive?"

"Next May? That's what the crystal ball says!"

Makoto tried not to roll his eyes at that.

"So, we really need to start acting like the mature adults almost all of us are and buckle down and start thinkin' about this serious stuff!" Yasuhiro declared. "You got a notebook on you anywhere?"

Makoto shook his head, then tapped the side of it. "I'm sure I can remember it all. What's our first step?"

"Rebuilding government. I mean, I always really disliked how they were always on me before, but...it's needed for a stable community. Get some people together and try to rebuild the Diet and Ministries. Make sure the elections are fair. Getting a council together of us and having an official meeting on the eighteenth. Let's make it..you, Fujisaki-chi, Yamada-chi, Maizono-chi, me, perhaps a few others they bring along."

"What next?"

"Doing a rereading of the Constitution of Japan, for one. Making sure everyone understands what's written in it and what's expected of them,"

"But, we're all upstanding Japanese citizens-"

Yasuhiro suddenly pointed at him again. "We _were_! All of us _were_! But wait until the shock wears off. They'll start to realize that the Emperor is dead, the Prime Minister is dead, all of the Ministers and Diet members are dead, _everyone_ is dead. I'm a pretty nutty person myself, and I just know there's likely someone worse than me out there. We have to keep everyone in-line before something worse happens. What if someone at the meeting proposes that Lady Nanami be put in charge, with Fujisaki-chi, you, and me. She'd have absolute power. Nobody would even question it if you said we'd have the power back on in sixty days, not even paying attention to the fact they'd just voted in an absolute dictatorship!"

"I don't know, I think Fujisaki-san would look handsome in a hapi coat with black leggings and boots," Makoto tried to tease.

"This isn't a joke! These things happen, man, when societies fall! All the time!" Yasuhiro stated.

"But what about people like Ishimaru-san or Kirigiri-san? They know how the government works; their families were highly active in it. They'd know when it was too much,"

"Maybe before, but in case you didn't notice, their parents are kinda the reason we're in this mess. I don't think they're in the right mind to make choices like that at the moment,"

"So, get a council together. Make sure the voting is legal. Maybe have people vote for us that we trust?" Makoto tried to think about it. "What else?"

"I think Lady Nanami should be given absolute veto power over anything our council suggests," Yasuhiro nodded.

"You really think she'd go for that?!" Makoto gasped.

"I don't see why not. She's the thing we all have in common. Everyone here dreamed of her, and everyone here uses only the kindest and nicest adjectives to describe her, like 'quiet', 'kind', 'pretty', 'musical', 'helpful', you get the idea. They dreamed of her and the girl with the bear in her hair, and they chose her." Yasuhiro shrugged. "Even though I don't really believe in that sort of thing...I just can't accept the fact I might be used as a pawn in some supernatural battle,"

"I think we should at least ask her. Maybe she has some more ideas about what we can do next," Makoto suggested softly.

"Yeah. I just can't believe it, we're turning ourselves into some sort of monarchy or theocracy. You ever fancy yourself as a valet to a fifteen-year-old blind sheltered girl from Hiroshima? Alongside eight other valets and handmaidens, waiting on her like a queen?"

He shook his head. "If anything though, she waits more on us,"

"There's that at least," Yasuhiro nodded, looking down at the bottle. "Is there anything left?"

"No, you drank it all," Makoto answered, and they both looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing. "What should we call our committee?" He asked after they both managed to calm down.

Yasuhiro shrugged. "I don't really know, and I don't really care that much. You're going to be a part of it, why don't you name it?"

Makoto thought about it. "Hope's Peak Ministers? Ministers of Hope's Peak?"

"Before we all came here, we were all known for something. What about the Ultimates of Hope's Peak?" Yasuhiro suggested, and they both started laughing again.

"I think Ministers of Hope's Peak sounds good," Makoto smiled.

* * *

She didn't think a house could be so huge. Her old house only had three rooms, but according to Big Sister Maki, this house had six! Six rooms! The house was all on one floor because the thoughts of her walking up stairs made them all nervous, but she still had a nice raised porch and an even bigger playground that had climbing equipment, a trampoline, swings, and a slide. When they first arrived, she pulled open the doors and walked up the porch steps and went right inside, slipping her shoes off and running her hands along the walls, trying to figure out which rooms she had.

She felt the walls turn and then the feeling of something cold and steel with a handle. She tapped it a few times before she stood there in confusion.

"A fridge. It keeps food cold," Maki explained. "And that's a stove, and that's a pantry. I'm going to go back," She left, leaving Kaito and Chihiro inside the house. Chiaki's eyes lit up and she gasped in excitement, grabbing Chihiro's arm and feeling up everything she came across.

"What is this?" The outside was hard, while the inside dipped and felt like a hard glass. She ran her hands down further and felt several raised buttons. On top were two antenna like Kaito's radio.

"A television," Kaito said. "Before the pandemic, you could watch all kinds of cool things on there! I was always fond of sports shows,"

"Hm," Chiaki pouted. She figured she was in the main room of the house, as she also felt a couch and bookshelf. She then walked around further, walking into a smaller room that she soon learned housed a small bed and desk and dresser. "A bedroom,"

_Keep an eye on her, I'm leaving,_ Chihiro wrote out to Kaito.

"Where you off to, Chihiro-kun?" He asked, making Chihiro blush. That nickname still felt strange to him.

_Going to check on the power plant with Miaya-san. We looked at it yesterday and made good progress, but I want to really set it up._

"That's a noble goal! Don't worry, I can keep an eye on things here," Kaito reassured him, slapping Chihiro on the back before he looked over at Chiaki, flipping a Super-Famicom controller over in her hands. "You like that?"

"What is it?" She asked, tightening her grip on it.

"A controller for video games! They're like interactive movies!" He grinned, an awkward silence forming.

"I want to make some green tea. It's nearing the evening and I haven't had tea time yet," She finally said, setting the controller down. "I can explore the rest of the house later,"

The rest of the house consisted of a master bedroom, a bathroom, and an empty room with just a cot and a broken microwave. Chiaki decided she'd clean out that room and specifically use it for future gatherings of anyone who wished to visit and have a tea party with her or something.

Most of her time was just spent listening idly to the microwave as she put random dishes in it; Makoto eventually made her stop by telling her it would explode if she kept doing that. She sewed herself a tiny wardrobe of kimono already, and was glad for the porch where she could still sing and dance. She also developed an interest in that Super-Famicom, playing it every chance she got. She slowly got the hang of it by memorizing what each sound meant in the game and going from there.

Maki helped her boil water every day to use for cooking, since it was still highly unsafe to drink most; never mind Chiaki had been doing that very same thing for years and had gotten the hang of it already. Kaito and Chihiro also embarrassingly explained to her that since her house was one of the ones without a working toilet, she'd have to make use of the portable ones; she held the bags in her hands and crinkled one curiously. They had also found an emergency generator for her to use, hence why her house was one of the only ones in town with limited power.

That particular day, she was sitting in front of the TV, engrossed in a video game with a bag of chips beside her. She reached over and bit into one, pausing when she heard footsteps.

"Big Brother Kaito?" She asked curiously.

"I sure am, Miss Chiaki! I just came to tell you that a new group of people have arrived and want to speak with you, if you aren't tired yet," He explained.

"I'm not tired..." She ate another chip. "Do you know their names?"

"Their leader seems to be Kuwata-san. A really energetic guy, perfect sidekick material. He's got a kid and two girls with him, lots of other people too. Oh, how about I just let you meet them yourself?" He gently took Chiaki's hand and led her outside. "I'll tell them you're ready,"

She nodded and simply held her hands at her sides, not having an instrument with her for once. Her hair was messily pinned-up, but her kimono was a rich blue with watery waves; that looked nice, at least. Big Brother Leon would have something to compliment her on.

She could tell the group was a large one by how loudly they were chatting and giggling with each other as they finally noticed she was outside and then she heard footsteps approach her. She saw them in her dreams; a redhead with piercings, a perky blonde with musical notes in her hair, a blue-haired boy around twelve, and a freckled young woman with short black hair. She knew it was the redhead who approached her and gave her an awkward and stiff bow.

"Um, hey. I'm Kuwata Leon. I dreamed of you," He commented, and she smiled. "Can you, uh, actually see me?"

"Don't say such things, Kuwata-kun! That's rude!" The blonde gasped. Chiaki just laughed.

"I am Nanami Chiaki. Everyone here just calls me Miss Chiaki, or Lady Nanami to be more formal. I am very happy you're here. We were expecting you...I think."

"It's so weird to actually see you in person after having dreams of you for so long," Leon continued. He sounded as though his voice would crack any minute. "We've...I've...been traveling for a long time,"

He stepped off the porch and another one took his place; Chiaki assumed it was the blonde.

"I'm Akamatsu Kaede. Nice to meet you!" She bowed very gently and politely even though she was wearing just a lacy bra with no shirt. "Um, I dreamed of you too. And...I know it's rude, but..."

Chiaki nodded. "Yes, I'm really blind. I lost it to a fever a few months ago. I don't really realize I'm blind most of the time though," She reassured her. "You have a kind voice,"

Kaede stepped off the porch next and Chiaki took a sudden chill at the next two who stepped up; the boy and the black-haired woman.

"Ikusaba Mukuro," Was all the woman said, not attempting a bow. Chiaki could tell she was standing stick-straight and not looking at her; not another sound came from her direction.

"I know who you are," Chiaki gasped, more to herself. The chills had returned and wouldn't go away.

"Do you know who he is? The boy," His shoes scraped against the pavement and Chiaki assumed he was shoved over to her. "His name is Taro-chan,"

"I don't think that's his name...and you aren't his mother," She gave the boy a smile. "What's your name?"

"He won't tell you. He never told any of us-"

"Shingetsu. Shingetsu Nagisa..." He gasped suddenly. He bounded up the remainder of the porch and pulled Chiaki into a tight hug that made her gasp in surprise. "Shingetsu Nagisa is my name!"

Everyone else in the group happily cheered and applauded, while Chiaki placed her hand on his head and Mukuro stared levelly.

"Don't startle her like that, Taro-chan. She's blind and can't see your intentions," She finally scolded. "So leave her alone, Taro-chan,"

"That's not my name. It's Nagisa," He grumbled.

"Okay, fine. Nagisa-chan," She reached out and pulled him away from Chiaki, leaving the group entirely. The chills went with her, and Chiaki couldn't help but to wonder if she was the woman she was often warned of in her own dreams, the one who-

"I hope you aren't too shaken-up by that. Kizakura Koichi. A pleasure to meet you," The man bowed carefully in front of her. "I had those dreams of you too,"

She simply smiled and continued to greet the remainder of the crowd.

Two martial artists. A grandson of the former Prime Minister. Two dreamy opera singers. A blacksmith; he could come in handy, she mused. On and on the introductions went, each one being more amazed and stricken by her than the last.

Eventually, they were over and she was free to head to bed; she yawned greatly. Her feet hurt from standing on them too long and she needed to use one of her portable toilets.

The feeling that was the greatest in her mind, however, was the aching, painful, harrowing one that she had somehow missed something very important, and that she would...no, not just her. _Everyone_ in the community would be sorry once it came to fruition if she didn't figure out what that bad feeling was.

* * *

He always thought better when he programmed, even if he was just aimlessly tapping out commands on the keyboard, so the very first thing he insisted on once they moved in was his study was to have computers.

And computers it did have; his current one was hooked up to a white monitor but several unused ones lay sprawled around behind and inside the desk. He broke into an electronics store a few days prior and got a collection of colourful floppy discs that he instantly started to save all of his current observations about Hope's Peak on. At the moment he was trying to build a small-scale diagram on the screen to try and see what else they might need to rebuild.

The rest of the office was filled with bookshelves and a chess table and an easel; Chihiro was quite glad for the bookshelf and reorganized every single book he found in the house on it. He loved reading just as much as programming and knew he hit it big with that current house.

It was a lovely house too; two stories with a large window in the living room that had tinted glass, a large garage with a fridge in it; bedrooms that must've belonged to twins, and even a Western-style toilet, one of the few houses in town that did evidently. His bike still remained parked in the garage and he slept in the blue boy's room, his parents and sister and most of their possessions...simply gone. It was like that all over town; many corpses were around but most of the town was emptied with personal objects gone from the houses. It seemed cruel and creepy to just take up residence in another person's house, but what other choice did they have? They weren't alive anymore.

Chihiro lived with Kaito and his girlfriend, Maki, as well as a perky athletic brunette from Makoto's group named Aoi who seemed to have a thing for him. He felt like he was intruding initially, but he had no other place to live and he soon realized at the time that he was craving human contact. Kaito was going to move in with his girl, and the community had a strict rule that every woman must have a man living with her, so Chihiro and Aoi joined the group. The four were all quite close and Chihiro just couldn't imagine his life without them.

Their house had a generator as well, but their main goal was to get the power at least partially back on because Yasuke; a close friend of Miaya's who knew technology like the back of his hand despite being a neurologist, suggested they start out slow to avoid an accidental nuclear meltdown. Chihiro agreed, so they started out small. Eventually they'd get the rest set up and send some people down there to monitor the plant itself to still be careful of any future nuclear meltdowns. None of them were experienced in that area at all so they had to be even more cautious. Kaito insisted they'd all throw a huge party once everyone got power; a feat estimated to be possible around September 3rd.

Also cluttered on the desk were several sheets of notebook paper that Chihiro had scribbled on anxiously before he gave up and took to the computer to calm his nerves. Most of what was written were simple plans and ideas he had for the community as a whole as well as a few idle thoughts he had. The one that made him turn the computer on was a simple phrase circled in blue several times:

_We need some kind of law and authority. Like a police force._

Chihiro shuddered at the thought despite himself. These were all good people; they would never do anything bad! Could they? No, they could, just because they were on the side of good didn't mean they would never be stupid or greedy or jealous. He still recalled his brief time taking care of Daiya's prisoners; them dying and the defiance shown by the third as he verbally berated him and threw his food. That was what could happen without a firm set of laws put in place. He anxiously rubbed his eyepatch. Chihiro figured Makoto would be the best fit for that job, and even if he turned it down, he'd get Yasuhiro to back him up. There was just something about Makoto, something he couldn't put his finger on. Everyone instantly felt calmer and happier when he was around and felt compelled to spill their inner dark secrets to him. He was gentle, but could easily lay down the law, he felt. He shivered again and wrote down to himself:

_Law and authority. Law and authority. Law and authority._

Kaito came in a few minutes later and saw Chihiro typing something into the computer. He gently tapped his shoulder and grinned.

"A huge party of people came in earlier, I told Miss Chiaki about it. I saw a few of them myself before I left, they look like an interesting bunch. Also heard that a group of fifty will be coming tomorrow. Fifty, can you even imagine that, Chihiro-kun? We might get a doctor this time, an actual doctor, then we'll truly be like a city,"

Chihiro smiled, still feeling awkward about the nickname. _That's great news. Anyone catch your eyes in particular?_ He wrote.

"Only one, their leader. Kuwata-san. I can already tell he's got a fiery spirit. Asks a lot of questions too. There's something about him," Kaito said. Chihiro drew a question mark in the air. "Well, he has a fiery spirit. Looks to be two years older than you, at least. Gives off the vibe of a rock-star. Asks interesting questions,"

?

"He wanted to know who was in charge and what the responsibilities of everyone already here were, things of that nature," He shrugged.

_I'll go greet him the next time I'm available. He sounds really interesting!_

"Yeah, I think you two would get along great, Chihiro-kun! Two sporty bros, what could be better than that?!" He cheered, making Chihiro laugh. "Speaking of which, I brought up to Miss Chiaki what Makoto-san suggested the other day about us making a council and who should be on it,"

?

"She actually quite liked the idea! She said everyone has been wandering around aimlessly ever since they arrived, so some idea of a government would really help get them in gear!" He bumped his fists together and Chihiro laughed again.

S_ounds like her. She's smarter than she looks. I'll tell Makoto-san and Yasuhiro-san about it tomorrow then, they'll be thrilled,_ He wrote. _Did you make those flyers?_

"Huh? Oh, right! Yeah," Kaito reached into his bag and thumped a huge stack of yellow papers onto the empty chess table. He picked one up and showed it to Chihiro. "Spent most of my day making these," They still smelled heavily of ink.

He took it and read through it carefully:

**MASS ELECTION! NOMINATE YOUR FELLOW HOPE'S PEAK CITIZENS TO SERVE ON THE COUNCIL!**

**When: August 18th, 1994, 8:30 PM**

**Where: City Park if Fine; Temple if Foul**

**Nominees:**

**-Makoto Naegi**

**-Sayaka Maizono**

**-Yasuhiro Hagakure**

**-Hifumi Yamada**

**-Chihiro Fujisaki**

**-Aoi Asahina**

**-Seiko Kimura**

**-Kaito Momota**

**STAY AFTER THE ELECTION FOR REFRESHMENTS!**

Below all of that was a map for newcomers or anyone who hadn't spent very much time exploring the town. Chihiro pointed to the line about refreshments, giving Kaito a curious look.

"It was Sayaka-san's idea. She said that would entice more people to show up, and you know Miss Chiaki agreed with her. It'll be her and Aoi-san and Aiko-san and probably a few others. I think they're making cookies, red bean-paste dumplings, and Fanta," Kaito explained. "Gotta say though, not the biggest fan of Fanta. Too sticky and syrupy. You can have mine, Chihiro-kun!"

Chihiro grinned before he wrote some more. _Are these the final choices? Could anyone else enter now?_

"No, it's not final. But they're all beloved by the community, so it might stay like that. Anyone can leave the bracket if they're not feeling it anymore, Makoto-san said. And more can be entered,"

Chihiro nodded, tapping his pen against his lips.

"Probably what I'm going to do. I mean, I'm pretty sure I know what all of these words mean. They mean I'm going to get a clap on the back and praised for all of my hard work. I love doing hard work, encouraging others to do their best, don't have a problem with that at all! I'm just not much of a government person, not an idea one either,"

Chihiro drew a picture of the radio system and pointed at it.

"That's different though!"

_I think you're perfectly capable. Just believe in yourself. It's what you always tell everyone else,_

Kaito nodded. "You're right. I think Kuwata-san would be a much better option, but...they obviously believe I'm leader material. I'll step up to the plate and prove myself! You're a surprisingly good motivator, Chihiro-kun! I must finally be rubbing off on you!" He playfully slapped Chihiro on the back. "I'm going to head out again for the night and pick Harumaki up; she was at that calligraphy class with Miss Chiaki all afternoon. See you tonight,"

Chihiro waved at him and turned his attention over to the flyer again once he was gone.

Everyone in the running seemed to make sense; they all had good leadership qualities. Chihiro was curious by the fact three women managed to get the nominee, as lately the community had shown a more traditional side and men had been keeping their women at home for 'safe-keeping'. That's why it was hugely frowned-upon for a woman to live alone at the moment; she needed a protector, she was important to the rebuilding of society. Them in government was surely frowned upon. But that wasn't the thing Chihiro was focusing on.

His features darkened as he stared at one of the names written there. Written right before his own name; Hifumi Yamada. He knew Makoto and perhaps even Sayaka and Yasuhiro likely pushed for his nomination to be considered, they knew him like the back of their hand. Sayaka and Hifumi had lived in the same town before, had they not?

Chihiro didn't have anything negative against Hifumi, not really. He didn't even harbor any negative feelings towards the guy, even if sometimes his smile got a bit too wide or his eyes wandered on certain parts for too long. He was socially awkward and Chihiro understood that.

What bothered him specifically was he wasn't sure how good of a leader he'd be. He was only sixteen years old; barely in high school and even less an adult according to pre-pandemic society. Unlike some of the others, he had yet to do very much in terms of reconstruction.

He pouted and rubbed at his good eye. Makoto might be able to help him, he was always good with advice. He got a clean sheet of paper out and started to write:

_Makoto-san, I understand I'm being formal with you, but I have something really important to talk about with you. I don't think Hifumi-san should be a nominee for the council anymore. I don't have anything against him! He's just younger and less experienced compared to the rest of us. I'm worried the power might go to his head, or his decisions will lead us around in circles. I'm really trying to ask you this in good faith, Makoto-san. What should I do? What do you think I should do? Whatever you decide, please let him know gently. I know you will. And please, DO NOT let him know this was my idea!_

He rubbed his eye again and left the paper at his desk, intending to give it to Makoto later. He needed to take a shower. He turned the computer off and headed into the bathroom, unbuttoning his red checkered shirt with baggy bleached jeans. Him and Makoto shared a lot of clothes now due to their similar builds and gender. His clothes were a bit big for Chihiro, but Aoi had been learning a lot from Chiaki lately and could do some amazing mending.

He finished getting undressed and suddenly paused, shivering despite the bathroom suddenly filling with heat. He had goosebumps on his arms; why? Nothing bad had happened to him.

Or was he anticipating something bad? Something that hadn't even happened yet? He felt ill at ease and terrified suddenly; the fear exploded inside him like a bomb.

He shook his head. He was just feeling nervous about having to take time out of Makoto's already-busy schedule and discuss this with him. Nothing bad would happen!

He stepped into the shower and drowned out his thoughts with a bucket of searing-hot water being poured over his head.

**####**

**Nagasaki; August 5th, 1994**

* * *

Three new followers would be arriving that day. Mahiru told her ahead of time, but she already knew that. She knew everything about her followers; since they had accepted despair into their lives, it was the least she could do. She remained in the shadows this time, keeping an eye on the new arrivals.

Three women. The blonde one with the ponytail clearly thought herself to be their leader; she wore a silky pink sweater with white jeans and pink flats; a carnation obi tied like a butterfly was around her waist and a matching kanzashi was in her hair. The girl next to her wore a black T-shirt with a purple tie and matching micromini with black combat boots and neon jelly bracelets on both arms. The girl behind them both wore a simple brown school uniform with a blue baggy sweater thrown on top; stained with blood, she also wore a sickness mask.

"I am delighted to meet you!" Junko greeted cheerfully. "You all will get started on your work right away,"

"As long as I get to perform," The dark-haired girl shrugged; one hand tugging on a black guitar case on her back.

"Yes, you two! Make yourselves presentable and entertain the masses!" Junko suggested.

The woman in the back suddenly gasped and shoved the other two aside, falling onto her knees and crawling towards Junko.

"Y-You...are my savior...my love, my life...the love of my life! My beloved, my sweetheart!" She cried joyfully, kissing Junko's boots.

Junko smirked and kicked her away. The woman cried out in half-pain, half-ecstasy. "Glad to hear that,"

The blonde cried out in disgust. "Ugh, how dare you?! Your dirty mouth isn't fit to kiss our beloved mistress' boots!" She scolded. The woman cried more.

"I-I'm sorry!"

Junko leaned back a bit and smiled to herself. Already, it was shaping up to be a good day.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Hajime woke up in his bed in a cold sweat, recalling a terrifying and vivid dream of chasing down a young woman in a bloodied wedding gown, throwing her onto the ground, and having his way with her. Those purple eyes haunted him every time he closed his own; filled with both pleasure and pain, hope...and despair.


	12. Sayaka 1: New Visitor

**Sayaka 1: New Visitor**

**######**

**Hiroshima; August 6th, 1994**

* * *

"Chihiro-sama! Chihiro-sama!" Hifumi called out as he carefully slipped into the house the man in question shared with three other people. He took a moment and paused; it was still so strange to him that he could easily fit through doors now. "Aoi-sama?" He called again, wandering around. "Kaito-sama! Maki-sama?"

Nobody answered, confirming his earlier thoughts that they were all busy. But maybe Chihiro was still there and just unable to hear him? He blushed a bit at that thought. He totally forgot Chihiro was deaf!

He instantly ran into Chihiro's office and looked around, noticing it empty. "I just wanted to invite you to dinner with me...not in _that_ way! Just a friendly little thing between friends. I could invite Aiko-sama too if that's too weird a thought!" He craned his neck a bit and heard the loud splashing a of a shower nearby, as well as someone shuffling around in the bathroom. "Ah, I see. You are in the midst of cleansing yourself! Well, then I shall return later and bring the offer up to you again!" He announced, his hands on his hips, turning to leave when something on the desk caught his eye. "Hm?"

It was a bigger sheet of paper, different from the tiny pads Chihiro often used to talk with. He spotted Makoto's name at the top and curiosity took him over; he began to read it.

His eyes widened and continued to widen up until he read the very last word. Without a sound, he set the paper back down on the desk, took a final glance around the room, and left, leaving everything how it was when he found it.

That night, he took out his journal for the first time in a while and flipped it to a certain page.

_In our time here on Earth, spent as human beings, we inevitably come across certain people who just do not understand us and thus refuse to cooperate. Many of those people are only this way because they carry a certain sense of pride with them. They think they are better than everyone else and can do whatever they want without consequence. There is nothing wrong with taking such people down a peg, is there? After all, common teachings of Buddhism say that overt pride and great pride are some of the biggest faults one can commit on their quest to Enlightenment. One is not better than another, and one must learn to only say what is needed when it is needed._

He then went to bed.

* * *

Sayaka sighed a bit as she stood outside on her balcony, overlooking the rest of the residential section of the town. Her house had two stories and even came with an expansive balcony complete with patio furniture. Inside, Makoto was fast asleep, tuckered-out after yet another session of love-making. Sayaka let him sleep; he hadn't been getting a lot lately and she was concerned about him. Also just inside was their shared bedroom; an oak-and-green master bedroom with a large dresser that had an adorable hoko doll set up neatly next to other generic knick-knacks. Makoto had gotten it for her the moment they arrived, and she felt her heart skip several beats.

Makoto once again proved to be a thoughtful and kind man; it wasn't even his child! She shook her head. She shouldn't have thoughts like that. She took her hand and gently ran it along the fabric of her pajamas; light blue and the camisole fanned out like a tutu. Despite that, she could easily feel the small swell of a developing baby bump and the thought made her blush. She had no idea why she started to show as late as she did, but it didn't matter.

He had joked about it earlier with her, asking shyly how much longer they had before he might accidentally squish him.

"Or her?" She giggled back.

"Or her," Makoto had nodded.

"A few more weeks?" She had suggested before he gently laid her back down onto the bed. "What gender do you wish for them to be?"

Makoto just shrugged. "Any, as long as they're happy and healthy," He then kissed her, and then they made love.

Sayaka leaned forward on the balcony slightly, noticing a moving shadow at the bottom and stared at it curiously. The shadow ended up being the figure of a person, glancing around. He had several piercings on his face and wore a white sports jersey and baggy jeans. Around his arm was a red bag, and he carried a small piece of paper with him and looked around carefully; likely some kind of address.

Should she call out to him? She didn't want to scare him, and his knocking might wake Makoto up. She leaned further and continued to stare at the man, making him finally look up at her.

"What the fuck?!" He called out in surprise, nearly falling over. Sayaka cried out in surprise as well and took a step back, accidentally falling over and making a potted plant fall with her, making a loud crash. She started to laugh.

"I-I'm sorry!" She managed to call out, hearing Makoto stir in bed. "I...I'll be right down!" She promised, rushing back into her bedroom and slipping on her shoes as well as a white bathrobe. She then headed back outside. "I-I'm sorry..." She giggled again.

"What did you knock over, a piano?" The man asked, looking her over. She blushed.

"A potted plant...I suppose it _was_ rather loud, wasn't it?" Sayaka laughed. She could see the man much better in the light and noticed his flaming red hair and brilliant blue eyes.

"Are you Maizono Sayaka-chan?" He asked curiously.

"I am...how did you know?" She bowed politely, looking at him. "I don't know who you are,"

"Kuwata Leon," He gave her a handshake instead of a bow, and she awkwardly returned it. "Nice to meet you! My group just got here the other day. I'm actually looking for someone named Yamada Hifumi-san. I was told he'd be living here with you and a Naegi Makoto-san,"

"Oh, he was, but he moved out a week or so ago. Said he wanted to have more writing space. I don't blame him, our house_ is_ a bit crowded," Sayaka responded breezily. "He lives on the west side of town, near the gas station and electronics store. I can give you an address tomorrow, if you want,"

Leon nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot!"

"So, are you two friends?" She asked.

"Nah, I know him the same way I know you. Actually, you look a lot how I was picturing you. A tiny idol type, with spring-coloured hair and bright smile," He whistled at her. "I have something for him too, actually," He pulled open the bag and showed it off to Sayaka; a case of Diet Coke along with several different types of junk food. Her eyes widened.

"How did you know how much he loves Diet Coke?" She asked.

"It's a long story, sweetheart. Care to hear me tell it?" Leon smirked, and Sayaka nodded and took a seat on the steps. Leon cleared his throat as he zipped the bag back up.

"Once upon a time, there was a guy named Leon Kuwata who decided to take a break from partying constantly and traveling around Tokyo's districts to head back home to Shinjuku and see his mother again. When he was visiting, his aunt and uncle and cousin came too. Everything was fine, he even promised to his cousin that he'd take her on an American tour when he became a world-famous rockstar. And then, behold! The crazies swept through the nation, taking Leon-kun's mother with it. His aunt and uncle too. Only him and his cousin Kanon-chan were left,"

"Oh...my father died too," Sayaka commented.

"Anyway, the two decided to leave Shinjuku and try to find more survivors since there wasn't anything left for them at the moment. They had no idea where to go, just that they had to go somewhere. Kanon-chan, sadly, was knowingly sick with the crazies and went with Leon-kun anyway. She died from the disease on July 4th, and he came across her body that morning,"

Sayaka's eyes widened in horror.

"Leon-kun was by himself for a while after that. He assumed what had happened was his fault somehow since he didn't want to deal with his cousin's nonsense on top of everything else. He started to have nightmares too. By the time he was near Yokohama, he ran into a quiet young woman named Ikusaba and her adopted child whose real name turns out to be Shingetsu Nagisa-kun,"

She nodded.

"We flipped a coin and decided to head to.."

"Nagoya!"

"Yup. Where Ikusaba saw the sign first with her solder-trained eyesight and it led us to Yokohama and the disease research facility there,"

"Oh, Hifumi-san will be so pleased to know!" She gasped happily.

"We found the other note left there and decided to follow that. We came across Kaede-chan at that point, who is my girl, by the way. About as hot as you, loves music. Anyway, we kept walking along, and soon our group numbered about fourteen. And Leon-kun was made the leader of that group. He didn't know how or why, he didn't want that much responsibility. What if someone else got sick? So many things could go wrong..." He sighed a bit. "When we got to the facility, Ikusaba was so upset that she fainted,"

Sayaka nodded. "It was really upsetting for me. I nearly cried...did you go to the motorcycle dealership there?"

He nodded, and her face lit up.

"We were there too! Hifumi-san learned this really cool trick about how to fill up a motorcycle using the plug-vent,"

Leon grinned, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Damn, he's a smart cookie, isn't he? I almost took my fingers off trying to figure that out," He laughed. "Along the way, we decided to look at her old house. We all knew she wasn't there anymore because of the dreams, but...we all just wanted to see anyway, you know? Her porch and the rice fields and that little slide...just to know it was all real, I guess,"

Sayaka nodded again.

"And therefore, I wanted to thank him for getting us this far. With Diet Coke and junk food. I actually have no clue if he likes junk food or not, but...anybody who loves Diet Coke has to at least love a good meaty burger and some fries!" He teased, and Sayaka laughed. "I gotta admit though, I thought you two were like an item before,"

She quickly shook her head at that. "Oh, no! No. Never. I mean...we're not..."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Hey, you should come by tomorrow and meet Makoto-kun. Bring Kaede-san as well," She smiled instead.

"What's wrong with him?" Leon just asked again.

"...There's just something about him. I can't place it...he's changed quite a lot. We all have, but...there's just something about him," She finally shook her head.

"Alright. Well, I'm going to go. It was great meeting you, Sayaka-chan, and if you see him before I do, don't tell him about the treat,"

She firmly shook her head at his honorific usage, then nodded. "I won't tell a soul!" She bowed politely to him and he waved as he left, then Sayaka headed back inside her house.

What was she supposed to do about Hifumi? This wise, politician-type who just a few weeks ago was crying in his underwear while mowing the lawn? He gave her the creeps whenever he smiled now; his eyes were never quite there. Even though he had lost a lot of weight and wore his hair normally, he still gave her the creeps, she didn't know how else to explain it-

She gasped quietly as she tucked herself into bed and sat up, a hand on her stomach. Something had moved inside of her-her baby. She sat there in silence for a few more minutes, waiting to see if it would happen again. Her hand reached over to Makoto's shoulder before she hesitated and drew it back. If only it was his child and not Shuichi's. Next time, they could celebrate together.

Would there be a next time? She secretly hoped so, even though Yasuhiro suggested once that the virus might still be hanging around and might kill a child. She knew people who lost children to the disease. She shivered and laid back down in bed.

It was a very long time before she could fall asleep, but before she did so, she felt another little movement, and she smiled to herself.

It was her baby. Her baby was truly alive.

* * *

Hifumi sat outside on a yellow chair in his small yard that had a nice fence around it, turning some pages in a book in his lap. An old song his mom used to love was stuck in his head, which he found interesting. It had to have been at least a few months since he had last heard it, blasting through the headphones on her Walkman-he always knew she'd get ear damage if she kept doing that, but of course she wouldn't listen to him-some pop-rock song about romance. It was really sappy, yet he found himself quietly bopping his head along to the memorized lyrics in his head.

He leaned back in the chair and gazed up at the stars, marveling at how many were visible in the night-sky now, even in a populated place like that. He had grown his hair out some and washed it regularly; now, he wore it in a similar style to how Makoto or Chihiro would wear theirs. It looked a bit ridiculous on him, but he was merely in a terrestrial shell that could look however it wanted, as what truly mattered was his talent. He had also lost quite a lot of weight and had moments where he'd pass by a mirror and pause and just marvel at his new appearance as if looking at a stranger.

The book in his lap was a heavy-set one in a shade of royal blue with simply the word 'Log' written on the front in gold. The very same book he had carried with him from Yokohama to Hiroshima, the same one he hid behind the bookshelf, the same one that would destroy all of his creditable reputation if anyone else learned of its existence; his journal.

He saw her in his dreams now, a strawberry-blonde in a skimpy white bikini with bows in her hair. She always beckoned him forward, and forward he would go. In a month or two, once everything was settled. He'd get his revenge on Makoto for stealing his girl, his revenge on Sayaka...he'd even get voted onto the council, no matter what Chihiro thought of him. Then he'd be privy to all of the discussions they had, and when he ran south, he'd tell her all about them. The girl with the bear in her hair would reward him greatly, give him whatever he wanted, and then they'd crush this small community together.

He shook his head. Did he really want that? He lived with a doll named Aiko Umesawa who absolutely worshiped him and found his anime knowledge to be charming. Sayaka and Makoto were still quite friendly with him. Even the others in their small community gave him a genuine smile and a wave instead of the disgusted or pitying looks he used to receive before the pandemic. Yes, everyone in the community in general seemed quite happy; no violence or crimes or fights or even general disagreements, all women had to live with a man to be her protector; traditional marriage laws be forgotten, and even the streets rang out every morning with the sounds of children playing. Could he really destroy such a peaceful, innocent place in good conscience?

Hifumi pulled open his journal and quickly jotted down:

_The great Hifumi Yamada is on a quest, starting today. He will not be tied down by simple mortal laws!_

"Sweetheart, did you want dinner?" Aiko asked and he quickly pulled the book shut as he heard her light footsteps on the grass. "Um, we had a cooking class today with Lady Nanami, all of us girls did, and she taught us how to make beef udon, and I thought you'd like some,"

Hifumi nodded at her. "That sounds great! Is it ready?" He asked, and she shook her head. "Get on it then!"

"Alright! Moon Prism Power, Makeup!" She did a little spin and rushed back into the house. Hifumi followed after her a few minutes later and shoved the journal carefully back into its hiding place, then headed into the bathroom and stared at himself. He gave the mirror a wide smile, which just made him smile more.

He felt as though he was getting better at making his smiles appear more genuine.

* * *

The next day, Leon got his bag full of Diet Coke and another snacks and headed over to Hifumi's place, Nagisa in tow.

"I don't see why I have to come. I wanted to stay at home and read with Mukuro-mama," He commented.

"She's busy. Both her and Kaede-chan went out to take a wrecking ball to that huge blockage of cars," Leon reminded him. Initially, he hadn't wanted either of them to go, because they might be gone for a long time and what about dinner? He'd have to take it up with them later.

"I'm old enough to be left home alone,"

Leon chose to ignore that as he walked over to Hifumi's house and let himself into the yard, finding the man in question weeding out a flower bed. He stepped back; aside from the glasses, he looked nothing like how he was picturing him originally.

"Yamada Hifumi, I assume?" He asked anyway, holding out his hand.

"That's me, alright! A fan, I assume myself?" He awkwardly took his hand and shook it with a smile. He had the grip of a politician, Leon noted with amusement.

"In a way. My group followed your route that you wrote down. Just wanted to come here and thank you myself. With these," He pulled open the bag and grinned when he saw Hifumi's eyes go wide.

"It feels like forever since I've even seen a Diet Coke!" He wiped some sweat off his brow. "Um, hey, come inside. It's a lot cooler in there,"

Leon nodded and led Nagisa inside, taking notice of the loud furniture and anime posters spread all over the walls.

"Hello, hello! New people!" Aiko gasped in excitement. Leon then took notice of the fact she had one green eye and one blue eye.

"Yes, they're going to spend the day here," Hifumi nodded.

"He is, I just wanted to go home," Nagisa crossed his arms in front of his chest. Hifumi continued to smile.

"Hey, Master Hifumi has a bunch of old Disney movies we could watch together! Doesn't that sound like fun? Some newer ones too. Down in the rec room. We got a generator, so we can watch them!" Aiko gently took Nagisa's hand and he glanced back at Leon, who gave him a reassuring nod. "Let's start with The Little Mermaid!"

"Aiko-chan is such a delight, isn't she? I don't know what I did to deserve her. Oh, right, I should probably get some cups," He briefly paused at the top of the rec room stairs. "I'll bring some Coke and popcorn down to you lovely folks later, alright?" Aiko flashed him a brief thumbs-up.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought a lot of junk food aside from the drinks. I figured a guy like you would probably appreciate finer tastes," Leon teased, taking a seat on a lumpy green chair. Directly across from him was a poster of three big-eyed girls in primary colours in magical flight suits. He quickly looked away from it.

"That was the old me! I rarely partake in that stuff now, but I'll still take a Diet Coke. For old times sake," He walked back in carrying two red glasses and nearly stumbled, making the coffee table rattle. "Whoops!"

Leon gently steadied his own glass and popped the can open, gently pouring it in.

"I don't get very much company, honestly. Just Sayaka-sama and Sir Makoto...but they hardly count because we're all friends," Hifumi said. "So seeing a new face has already worked wonders for my stamina!"

"You seem awfully nervous," Leon mumbled.

Hifumi just waved a hand at him, and the two clicked their glasses together before taking some sips. Leon looked around the room and noticed a few books on the bookshelf placed away haphazardly. Weird; Hifumi seemed like the type of guy who'd treat his books with respect.

"So, that babe living here...she your girl?" He asked a few minutes later.

"Aiko-chan? Nah. She's good to me though, which is all someone like me really needs," Hifumi nodded. "Honestly, I'm not the best when it comes to talking to girls. I...I like to think I've gotten a bit better though.." He adjusted his glasses.

"You going to that council meeting thingy in a week or so? I was surprised to see they were considering a guy as young as you," Another sip.

"Well, clearly they know a man with good leadership skills when they see one!" His voice sounded more strained. "And I _will_ get a spot on that council. It'll be a good day in my favour when the votes are counted, I just know it. I may be young, but I've proven myself a thousand fold!"

"Yeah, I think you'd be better at that sort of thing than someone like me anyway. You seem like a book-smart type of guy, which I ain't," Leon shrugged. "Almost everyone up for the vote is in one way or another,"

"It's never too late to learn a love for literature!" Hifumi gasped, standing up and heading over to the bookshelf, sliding a few volumes into Leon's lap. "A few personal favourites of mine,"

"Uh-huh..." One was even a manga. As if Leon would ever touch that with a fifty-yard-stick.

The two continued to talk aimlessly for the next hour until Aiko and Nagisa came back upstairs; Aiko carrying a red bowl full of kernels.

"Hey kid. You enjoy the movie?" Leon started getting his things ready.

Nagisa shrugged. "It was fine, I guess. Big Sister cried loudly at the ending and gave me a headache,"

"It's just so beautiful, how finally she can be with her true love!" Aiko sniffled. Hifumi chuckled.

"She's a bit of a hopeless romantic," He awkwardly shook Leon's hand again. "Enjoy those books that I gave you, and don't be a stranger, okay? I'd like to see more people,"

Leon nodded, suddenly taking a chill. Hifumi continued to wave as they left the house, shutting the door and drawing the blinds closed suddenly once they exited the gate. Leon stared at that.

"You think he closed his windows so he could start making out with his girl?" He jokingly nudged Nagisa.

"No, Big Brother Chihiro and Big Sister Aoi kiss everywhere in public. I think he's doing bad things," He walked ahead.

Leon shook his head to clear his thoughts of such a notion. Hifumi, doing bad things? Sure, he was overly-friendly and nervous, but he didn't seem like one who'd do occultic rituals in the dark. That chick would prevent him, wouldn't she? He took another sudden chill.

"It's like he has a disease. Worms in his brain," Nagisa announced suddenly before running ahead. "I see Big Sister Kyoko. I'm going to see if she has gum for me,"

Leon nodded numbly and kept walking slowly, thinking about how dazed some people in town had been lately. Even in the middle of a conversation, their expression would become vacant for a few seconds before they'd snap out of it. Sometimes they'd even say something completely off-the-wall like Nagisa had. He glanced around the town; girls shopping and guys going to work, children playing in the streets. Nothing abnormal there. Hell, even that Fujisaki dude entered those trances at times, and he couldn't even talk! Those were freakier.

"Want some?" He jumped a mile when Kyoko suddenly appeared in front of him, holding out several pieces. "They're fruit-flavoured,"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Gotta keep my breath smelling good for Kaede-chan," He winked and took one from her, heading back to his place.

* * *

Leon arrived home later and let Nagisa read in his room while Leon awkwardly strummed a few chords on his guitar; acoustic now. The girls weren't home yet, and he grumbled a bit to himself as he ate some cold canned soup for dinner because he didn't know how to make anything else.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kaede gasped as she arrived home, hurrying over to Leon. "You didn't miss me too much, did you?"

"Nah, I just missed your cooking. Makoto-kun gets to have a girl at home every day to cook for him," He trailed off.

"Huh?" Kaede gasped a bit in confusion.

He took her hands and felt how smooth they were.

"You said you always wanted to be a pianist, huh? Right? Well, pianists are expected to have soft and delicate hands. If you keep doing heavy work like that, it'll ruin your hands. Take it from me. You should stay at home and take care of Nagisa-kun and me. Attend those classes Miss Chiaki is always holding," He directed.

"Well...you're not wrong..." Kaede though about it before smiling. "Alright! I'll take it easier. There's not much physical work to do around here anyway. Tomorrow, I'll make a huge feast for you! To make up for it!"

"Great, babe," He patted her back to make her leave, taking notice of Mukuro staring intently at him. "You could take a page from her too,"

"I...I'm not much of a girly-girl," Mukuro commented in an uncharacteristically awkward way before leaving for her room.

The next night, Leon slumped down in the living room chair, exhausted from rebuilding some of the destroyed stores around town. Kaede walked over to him a few minutes later, carrying a TV tray and giving him a deep bow. Her hair was up in a bun held with green leaves, and she wore a simple orange kimono with a cream-coloured obi and a gold leaf pattern.

"Welcome home! I hope the food is to your liking," She gave him a warm smile. "It's pork udon with a side salad and tsukemono, with green tea,"

"It sounds...delicious," Leon offered, not one for Japanese meals. Still, he _did_ ask for that. He sat up and after clasping his hands together, began to eat. "You make that?"

Kaede shook her head. "No, the only one in class who has actually finished her kimono is Sayaka-chan. Mine looks a bit like this though,"

Leon motioned her over and gave her a kiss. "I love you..."

"Me too," She smiled back warmly.


	13. Makoto 4: Preliminary Meeting

**Makoto 4: Preliminary Meeting**  
**Hiroshima; August 9th, 1994**

* * *

Sayaka stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, turning herself around a few times, smiling in satisfaction. She had finally finished making her kimono the other day and figured since she was home alone at the moment, it was the perfect time to try it on. Her hair had grown longer, just a bit, so she managed to tie her hair up into an elaborate bun held in place by a light pink fan patterned with red flowers, while her actual kimono was a light carnation pink with slightly-long sleeves patterned with dark pink, red, and gold flowers. Her obi was tied in a heart-shape and was a light pink with white-and-gold trim. She wore gold flower earrings with it. She twirled around again, smiling at herself more. One of the stitches in the left sleeve was a bit loose; she gasped as she ran her hand along it. The outfit emphasized her larger breasts and bump; once upon a time she might've been ashamed, but this was a different world, a different circumstance. Being pregnant was something to celebrate.

She spun around again before she accidentally collided into someone, gasping. "Oh! I'm sorry!" She gasped in apology, blinking.

"It's fine," Makoto laughed to reassure her, steadying her. He took a full look at her and blushed.

"I made it myself. Do you like it?" She asked a bit shyly, blushing.

"Um, uh-huh. Yeah!" Makoto nodded at her. "Soon all of the other girls around here will have one. Then we'll start to look like a public temple on Coming-of-Age Day,"

She sniffled at that and bit her lip. "Later on I'll have to do laundry. We don't have power, so no washing machine, but I'm sure a bucket of soapy water could do just fine! Maybe a wash-board too...Maki-san looked around town for one earlier but couldn't find anything,"

"I'm sure she'll find one. Lady Nanami might have a few to spare, or maybe that big old temple has one," Makoto pulled her closer. "But...we could always just buy new clothes to replace our dirty ones,"

Sayaka shook her head. "I don't like that idea. Like those paper bags they'd give you at MOS Burger or batteries in children's toys. Everything is cheap and easily-replaced and thrown-out. It's no way to live your life,"

Makoto nodded. "Alright, alright...just don't work yourself too hard," He kissed her and she kissed back. "And let me help sometimes,"

She smiled in response and went back to her reflection, humming a bit. "He ain't no good for you, he just ain't good for you, break up with your man and get with me, girl, just get with me,"

Makoto laughed. "Most popular song in the world right now,"

"Number One chart-topper," Sayaka teased back. "Yasuhiro-san sings almost all of the time and it just gets stuck in my head so easily!"

"I actually had something I wanted to talk about. Um, it's serious," He sat down on their bed, and Sayaka's eyes grew wide. "It's about that meeting. We have a preliminary one tonight,"

"The red-bean-paste is still g-"

"Seiko-san says she's dropping out of being in the election, and the council as a whole. She says if she wins, she's forfeiting,"

"Why?"

"She's far too busy keeping up with all of the medical emergencies," Makoto was whispering despite there being no real need. "Someone here has regular seizures, one woman needed part of her leg amputated, and yet another has a bad cold,"

Sayaka covered her mouth.

"She's not even a real doctor either, just a pharmacist. I mean, she's amazing to be doing as much as she is now, but...we're going to need a surgeon or a nurse or something soon. Both Miaya-san and Yasuke-san are pitching in where they can, but their talents are more mental and computer-focused," He sighed. "Someone from Leon-san's group was a nurse-in-training before, so there's that at least,"

Sayaka waited to see if there was more.

"Especially since she's normally in bad health..." Makoto pulled something out of his pocket. "So she's off,"

"So we need...one more?"

"Two more. I got this from Fujisaki-san earlier," Makoto held it out for Sayaka to read. "'I have no ill intentions towards him, but he is rather inexperienced. I don't want him to get anxious and make a large mistake in a situation like this,'"

Sayaka read the note over. "Hifumi-san_ is_ young, but so are we and we're still thinking about it. He's strange, yes, but I've always seen some sort of inner brilliance in him. Perhaps putting it to use on this council would be good for him,"

Makoto shrugged. "I thought that too, but I'm also afraid of Fujisaki-san thinking I'm plotting against him and running to Lady Nanami about it,"

"He would never! He's a sweetheart!" She gasped.

"I guess we'll keep Hifumi-san on for now and see what happens...especially since I don't know who else could take his place."

"Who will take Seiko-san's?"

"I was thinking of maybe Leon-san? I was talking to Kizakura-san the other day, and they traveled together. He gave him a pretty good recommendation and said once he gets his head clear, he'll be useful. He's the kind of person who could be really supportive. Kaito-san seems to agree with me as well," Makoto suggested. "Kizakura-san would probably be better, but he's getting up there in years...I feel bad for rejecting someone due to age, but..."

Sayaka took his hand gently. "It's a different world. We all need to be more careful now," She reassured him. "Anyway, I think Leon-san's a good choice. His girlfriend, Kaede-chan, we have those lessons together and she's the kindest person you'll ever meet. Even people like Mukuro-san and Maki-san who normally avoid social interaction feel charmed by her presence. Mukuro-san managed to perform an entire koto performance yesterday with her help when that very same morning, she couldn't even hold the instrument properly!"

Makoto smiled at that. "Yeah...I'm not sure how I feel about Leon-san though. He's too trustworthy. He told you his entire life story when you two first met,"

"He probably did that because he knew I was traveling with Hifumi-san, and we both know that was his real target,"

He shrugged. "But anyway, Fujisaki-san's face lit up when he heard the suggestion and nodded eagerly. Kaito-san saw the writing on the wall and told him; those two are super close to Seiko-san. I heard Fujisaki-san nursed her back to health in Osaka when the pandemic broke out. So Fujisaki-san certainly thinks Leon-san will be a good pick,"

"What should we do about Hifumi-san though?" Sayaka got a thoughtful expression on her features.

"You know, I lied to him when we first met. I still feel bad about it...I told him I wasn't interested in you and I just wanted to take you two back up to Yokohama. I just didn't think I could ever fall in love so quickly. Those things seemed to only happen in romance movies," He admitted shyly.

Sayaka moved closer to him.

"In real life, it took me an entire afternoon,"

"Makoto-kun...!"

They quickly kissed.

"I mean it though, what should we do about him? I genuinely think this committee would be a good thing for him, but he can also get egocentric, and is...well, he says weird things sometimes. I don't want him making a costly mistake," Makoto asked.

"I think he's genuinely trying to man-up and do what he thinks is best for everyone. He was a lot worse before the pandemic, believe me. I knew him closer than I ever wanted to. But now...he's almost like a different person. He's always smiling and greeting people, always wanting to help out. He even got that girl who lives with him a new ring; a mood-ring, a plastic pink thing, and she hugged him so tightly and he actually hugged her back! The Hifumi-san I knew before once yelled at a girl out of fear and made her cry because he never knew how to interact before," Sayaka explained. "But...sometimes his smiles scare me,"

"I think they scare Fujisaki-san too, but...he's such a delicate thing," Makoto tried to reassure her.

"No, there's...something about his smiles now. It's like he's trying too hard in a way. I've read about that happening to other people, when they read something...like...love letters..." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, you don't think...?"

"Think what?" Makoto asked curiously, sensing her sudden tonal shift.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. I need to wash those clothes. And you have to go meet with Leon-san," She playfully shooed him away, out of the room.

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" He laughed. "If you're okay. And...I'll ask the other nominees what they think of Hifumi-san,"

She nodded. "Ask Leon-san too. I know they met a few days ago,"

"I will," He promised her with a nod.

"Look at his eyes when you ask him it..."

"Why?"

"Eyes are the gateways to the soul, didn't you know that?" She smiled strangely.

* * *

"Never ridden a motorcycle before? You're in for a treat then!" Leon laughed, leaning against his own.

_Well, you need a license to drive one, and I can't even drive a car. And I never knew anyone with a motorcycle,_ Chihiro admitted, writing to him.

"Just make sure you wear safety-gear. Those new digs look good on you too!" He grinned, motioning to Chihiro's rocker-chick clothes. Chihiro just stared as he slipped the helmet on. "Hold on tightly to me," Leon slid on and put on his own helmet, revving up the engine. Chihiro nervously slid behind him, wrapping his arms around Leon's waist and trembling slightly. Leon couldn't lean back and talk to him anymore, so he had no other way to comfort him. "I know you're mute, but you can still scream, right? Just scream and let it all out if you need to," He said anyway, revving the engine up and speeding down the road.

Several people gasped and hurried out of the way, having been walking in the middle of the street. Chihiro gasped himself and felt his stomach drop down to his knees; he tightened his grip on Leon and made his knuckles turn white. He finally took a deep breath and loudly screamed, muffled partly by the motorcycle's engine.

"Isn't this fun?!" Leon cheered, swerving around a corner and making the motorcycle spin before he regained control and started to slow down. Chihiro continued to scream.

He slowed the bike down slightly in front of his house and grinned, noticing Makoto standing there, looking amused, and Kaede with her hands on her hips, wearing her kimono again. Leon gave them both a wave as he stopped the motorcycle.

"Well, how was that for your first time? Not bad, huh?" He smirked as he helped Chihiro pull the helmet off.

With a shaky hand, he pulled out his notebook and wrote:

_I'm never going to do that again. That was terrifying,_

Leon still smirked when he caught a sparkle in Chihiro's eye.

"Well, I'll always be here if you change your mind. Now run along, kid," He slapped Chihiro's shoulder, making the younger man suddenly freeze up. His eye was trained on something off in the distance, and he hurriedly wrote something out and threw it at Leon, dashing off. Leon shrugged and picked the paper up, assuming the ride spooked Chihiro out more than he originally thought.

_You're going to die. You're going to die. You're going to die._

He shivered and crumpled the paper up. Chihiro was just spooked.

"How are things going here?" Makoto cleared his throat, greeting Leon. Leon's traditional smirk appeared and he shook Makoto's hand.

"Going great! You plannin' on staying for dinner?" He motioned over at Kaede, who was humming Clair de Lune to herself under her breath as she rolled up rice-balls into panda shapes.

"No, Sayaka-chan wants me home early. But that _does_ look delicious. I actually wanted to tell you about something," Makoto sat down on the porch and watched as Leon pulled out a cigarette and begun to smoke.

"Shoot then. I've got time,"

"Well, first of all, what do you think about Hifumi-san? Sayaka-chan told me you were fascinated with him,"

"She did, huh? She looks like someone who can't keep a secret," He blew some smoke out of his mouth. "Well, he's not anything like I pictured originally. He's super friendly and a damn good host as well. I heard he's been nominated to sit on our council and I say, good for him. He seems like a well-educated guy. But...he's really nervous and clumsy without meaning to be. He just gives off the air of someone who doesn't have a clue what he's doin', but is doing his damnest to make others think he does," He shrugged. "I dunno, man. I ain't the best at readin' people," He took another drag. "That all you wanted to say? Hey, want a beer?"

Makoto shook his head to both. "No thank you. I still have a bad headache from that sake a couple of nights ago. Yasuhiro-san drank me under the table,"

Leon laughed.

"I actually wanted to ask you if you'd like to be on our council. Hope's Peak Ministers. Seiko-san dropped out and we need an extra spot," Makoto continued.

"And you chose me out of everyone else?"

"Yeah...Sayaka-chan sees something in you, and so does Fujisaki-san. Well, him moreso than anyone else. He really admires you. And even Kizakura-san suggested you,"

"Damn, that old man?" Leon's eyes widened. "He's smarter than me though. You should've had him,"

"We thought about it, but he's getting up there in years, and it's too risky. But I'm sure he'd be fine with that...so, what do you say? We kinda want this thing to last for quite a while," He smiled a bit.

"I don't have anything else to do around here, so why not?" Leon shrugged. "I'm not big on all that politics stuff, but...maybe I'll find some way to help. After all, you all seem to have a huge amount of confidence in me,"

"Great! We're having a small meeting at my house tonight before we're all officially elected and can hold a larger town meeting in the community building. We're just discussing what to do at that official meeting. So, come, if you can,"

"I can. Well, can Kaede-chan come along?" He asked, and Makoto winced a bit.

"Um, I'm not sure...probably not. We kinda want this to be a secret, at least for now. Don't even mention it to her,"

"Hm. Not sure how I feel about that. I mean, if I can be plain, I think everything that happened prior with the disease and everything was because of stuff like that. People bein' secretive. I mean, they all killed themselves after the news broke. If that ain't the sneakiest shit you've heard..." Leon took another drag.

"...What if it was something really bad? Like an emergency, or...a war?" Makoto asked slowly.

Leon almost choked, looking back inside the house. Kaede was still inside, humming to herself. Her hands were coated in rice.

"We all dreamed of Lady Nanami, right? And she turned out to be real, right? Well...I'm not trying to be depressing, but that means the girl with the bear in her hair is real too. And Lady Nanami keeps hinting at something bigger, something larger, to come. We'll probably have to fight her own group before long," Makoto continued. "An ultimate battle of hope and despair,"

Leon suddenly shivered, thinking of the note Chihiro handed him earlier before he shook his head roughly to clear it from his mind. He wasn't going to die. "She's not spreadin' that shit around, is she? 'Cuz that might make people leave,"

"Why? I thought you wanted everything to be out in the open?"

"Well-" Leon cut himself off when he saw Makoto's smile. "Fine, I get it. But still," He shrugged and took another drag, not finishing his thought.

"See you tonight," Makoto continued to smile as he stood up from the porch and dusted himself up, leaving. "Thank Kaede-san for the invite. I'm sure Sayaka-chan and I will take her up on that offer on a later date,"

"Yup," Leon waved to him. "Hey, speakin' of which...does Mukuro-san seem to be a bit...odd?"

Makoto shrugged. "I heard she and Lady Nanami met on awkward terms, but other than that...we don't talk much,"

"Like I said, I ain't a good judge of character, and it's possible she's just mad at me or something, but...I don't know. Lately she's been giving me chills. I sometimes wake up at night for things and I find her looking out the window with wide eyes, entranced by nothing. I don't know. Maybe she's got a fucked-up brain from battle or something,"

Makoto just smiled awkwardly. "It's been a rough summer for all of us," The two waved at each other again before Makoto left for his own house.

* * *

Sayaka was busy inside her own house, finishing up a quick plate of red-bean-paste dumplings. She only used a little bit so the majority would be used for the main meeting in a few weeks, but she still wanted everyone to have something to eat, and she was hugely craving red-bean-paste. She squeezed a tiny bit onto her finger and licked it off.

After making them, she left the plate in the kitchen and went back up to her shared bedroom, adjusting her hair in the mirror before she looked around. Above the dresser was a painting of flowers she did in one of Miss Chiaki's classes, and next to that was an old picture of Makoto's family he said he carried with him the whole trip. She briefly looked at it, smiling. Maybe they could take another picture, a new picture, of the whole committee together. A symbol of hope for a new generation. They had survived the apocalypse and were tasked with rebuilding the world. Yes, it was a lovely idea.

She slid open their closet and dug through her old bag; most of her belongings had been taken out and put away in the house, but she still kept a few there just in case. A box of pads since she remembered reading pregnant woman spotted sometimes and wanted to be safe, as well as two packets of balloons; one was filled with blue ones with 'otokonoko!' written happily on the front, and the other was pink with 'onnanoko!' written instead. And of course, there was also...her diary.

Sayaka pulled it out carefully and stared at it, running her hand along the smooth black cover. She hadn't written in it for a few days; she had been so busy, and what else was there even left to say? She sniffled a bit, feeling like she had abandoned her dear momotaro already.

Her heart suddenly feeling heavy, she sat down on their bed and started to flip through it, her eyes widening as she remembered what she told Makoto earlier.

_But of course I'm just being silly and overreacting. There's no way Hifumi-san read my diary...he respects a woman's privacy, and her space. I'm just trying to soothe my unease somehow. It's just unease in general,_

She turned to the last page she had written in, her eyes skimming over the line: _We made love twice tonight._ She wasn't concerned about that. At the bottom of the page was a greasy thumbprint; yellowish, like someone had been eating chips and turning pages without wiping their hands off first.

_I had been eating a lot back then. Makoto-kun liked to get snacks for me because of my cravings...well, he didn't know I was having them for most of the trip, but it didn't matter. Those are from me,_ She tried to reason to herself mentally. She placed her own fingerprint on the greasy one and found it was a lot bigger. She swallowed sickly.

_Just because he's read my diary means nothing. He's not a bad person. He's not planning anything against Makoto-kun and I, he would never,_

"But he's changed," She suddenly spoke out-loud before shaking her head. She heard a polite knock on the door and jumped; the notebook flew out of her hands and hit the floor with a thump. "C-Coming!" She called out, taking a deep breath and shoving the notebook away, back into her bag. She then made herself look presentable again and headed over to the door, opening it and bowing sweetly. "Welcome to the meeting. I am so happy you're here! I made snacks for everyone!" She smiled.

* * *

Sayaka greeted everyone politely as they walked in, then sat down next to Aoi on one of the chairs in the living room. A long row of shoes was placed by the doorway. All of the members of the Hope's Peak Ministers were there; Makoto Naegi, Sayaka Maizono, Aoi Asahina, Leon Kuwata, Hifumi Yamada, Yasuhiro Hagakure, Kaito Momota, and Chihiro Fujisaki. Makoto was elected to be the moderator, while Sayaka was his secretary and took notes of everything. Kaito recorded the whole session on cassettes to be placed at the local bank for anyone crazy enough to actually want to listen to them.

"Um, thanks for coming, everyone," Makoto greeted nervously. "We don't have much to do today, just get a better understanding of what we want to discuss at the official meeting in eleven days,"

"Kimura-san and Yasuke-san were having a conversation the other day and they noticed there's been a huge outbreak of food poisoning going on the in the community lately. Because people aren't paying attention to what they're eating! So they suggested we mention at the official meeting the warning signs of food poisoning and what spoiled food looks like," Kaito instantly suggested eagerly.

Chihiro instantly winced at the resurgence of some half-forgotten memory; a bout of food poisoning.

"How bad are the cases?" Sayaka asked curiously.

"Two were severe, and a total of fifteen in the past week,"

"Oh...!"

"I think that's a good idea. Kaito-san can make posters for it and hang them up everywhere. All in favour?" Makoto asked, and everyone raised their hands. "What's next?"

"Speaking of Kimura-san...we also came up with the idea that there should be some sort of Burial Committee. There aren't as many dead people as there are in other parts of the country, but there's still enough to cause problems. We need to get rid of them before fall. The rainy season is almost over, but then flooding season will come and..." Aoi trailed off. Everyone shuddered, picturing it.

"Alright, all in favour for bringin' that topic up at the official meeting?" Leon asked, and everyone raised their hands up again.

Chihiro gently pulled on Kaito's jacket, motioning to his notebook. Kaito nodded and cleared his throat, making everyone look over at him. "Chihiro-kun wrote this out," He explained, starting to read:

_I think one of the most important things for us to discuss is what role Miss Chiaki has in the community. It's not a simple question of getting back onto our feet. I think there's a more serious role she has to fill; the fact that, we all dreamed of her and she ended up existing. We all dreamed of the girl with the bear in her hair too; thus, therefore, she must exist too, though we haven't personally seen her. But does Miss Chiaki even know what we're doing here? What if she doesn't approve? We all love Miss Chiaki greatly, myself included, but we won't get anything done without her approval._

_I asked her this afternoon alongside Maki-san to make the conversation easier, and she said she was fine with having us handle all of the actual city things. You know, rebuilding and cleaning up...but she wanted to handle issues relating to the girl with the bear in her hair. Or the fashionista. She refused to use her name and even claimed fashionista was not her true talent; only a cover-up._

_I'm still not sure how much of that spiritual thing I believe, but Miss Chiaki certainly thinks we're in danger, and I don't want us to have a big fight about anything. So for starters, can we all agree as a council to not bring any sort of religious or spiritual talk into this?_

The vote was unanimous.

_Secondly, can we all agree to keep the discussion of the girl with the bear in her hair a secret after leaving these meetings so we don't spread panic?_

Another unanimous vote.

_Thirdly, do we keep Miss Chiaki informed of all our business in this committee, public and private?_

They all agreed.

"Thinking about that chick really makes me shiver. I mean, we know nothing about her! We don't know what she has or how far along she is in her building..." Leon trailed off.

"If I may be so blunt as to suggest an unorthodox solution," Hifumi raised his hand. "How about we send some spies over to her side to...spy and then tell us what she's doing? Two or three should suffice!"

"Oh, I'd like to go in that case!" Aoi announced eagerly.

"And I nominate Sir Makoto!" Hifumi added.

"No, we are not nominating anyone on this council!" Yasuhiro shook his head.

"Yeah...like it or not, we're important to the rebuilding of this community. If any of us go, someone will need to be debriefed in our place and we'd take longer to get things done," Makoto agreed, shaking his head. "Besides, if someone comes back, they may not be...the same,"

"But everyone here is important to the community! We can't just send out people willy-nilly!" Sayaka cried.

_Yes, but what if one of us got crucified? Or burned alive? Or worse? We know she's doing these things from our dreams,_ Kaito read Chihiro's note.

Sayaka shivered. "What could be worse than that...?"

"We're all politicians here, and we have a role to fill. So we should think of suitable people we think could get the job done," Makoto continued.

"I never once thought I'd be in a place like this," Aoi shrugged.

"Join the club," Leon looked over at her.

"So, does anyone have any ideas?" Makoto looked around the room.

"Sure, I got one. You folks will probably think I'm crazy for suggestin' it, but you all don't know him like I do. Kizakura-san. We traveled together and he's as sharp as a tack. Poetic too," Leon said.

"But he's an alcoholic! And middle-aged!" Aoi stated.

"Yeah, that's kinda the point. I don't think she'd expect us to send a guy like that, you know? He'd blend in better. Plus, I just know he'd say yes. He's wanted to help out for a while and do something big,"

"Well we shouldn't just suggest someone just because they're not as capable. Miss Chiaki is our leader and she's the strongest person I've ever met despite that disability of hers," Kaito said.

"Okay, okay, so let's say we send him and he actually manages to fool the girl with the bear in her hair. Then he comes back and dies from a heart attack on the way here," Aoi said.

"Or drinks himself into a stupor!" Hifumi added.

"Anybody could die coming back here from a heart attack though," Yasuhiro reminded them. "Death is like that. Or not even a heart attack but just a regular accident,"

"Yeah, I get it, but trust me. You all just don't know him like me. He's smart and good at reading people. I rest my case," Leon said.

"All in favour?" Makoto asked, and they all agreed.

"I have someone, then! Talking about reading other people...I suggest Kirigiri-chan!" Aoi raised her hand.

"Kirigiri Kyoko-san?" Kaito asked, and she nodded.

"She's the bravest and gutsiest woman I've ever met...actually, _person_ I've ever met. She's quick on her feet and very intelligent. She may not be middle-aged, but I think she'd agree if we asked her,"

"I think she'd be good too. She has a way of knowing things about others and has a silent step," Sayaka nodded her approval.

"All in favour?" Makoto asked again, and there was unanimous agreement. "Alright, who should the third one be?"

Chihiro tugged on Kaito's sleeve and handed him his notebook, and he cleared his throat and briefly read it before his eyes widened. "Are you serious, Chihiro-kun?!"

"What, what did he write?" Aoi asked curiously.

"Um, he says he wants to nominate...Gokuhara Gonta-san,"

Everyone erupted in confusion and disgust.

"He's still writing, so I hope you're able to still read all of that," Makoto said in amazement.

Kaito started to read:

_I know you all will think me a horrible person for even thinking of suggesting him, but I know Gonta-san like I know the back of my own hand. He loves Miss Chiaki to death so much, he'd light himself on fire if she asked him to. We all know this,_

"We do, but...Gonta-san is like that because he's-" Sayaka began, but got cut off by Chihiro's pout.

_The point I'm trying to make is the same one Leon-san had about Kizakura-san. The fashionista isn't going to expect us to send someone with a simple mind as a spy. Your reactions told me that. And besides, Gonta-san may indeed be simple-minded, but he isn't stupid. He knew how to take care of me on the road when I nearly collapsed from starvation and exhaustion. He saved my life from a tornado too, I hadn't even seen one and he knew it was coming when the sky was still clear. He's like a...child, or a budding computer program. They can learn if you keep drilling the same story into them over and over and over again. They will eventually learn it. We can just give him a simple story to memorize, and besides, they'll likely assume we drove him out anyway because-_

"Because we don't want him ruining our genes? It sounds awful, but...I think that could work," Aoi frowned a bit.

_-Because he is simple-minded. He could even claim he was upset at those who kicked him out and wanted to get revenge on them, feeling despairful. But no matter what, if the story is simple, he'll stick to it. Other people can only stand up to so much torture before they confess, but not Gonta-san. If I told him a story and told him to believe it and remember it, he'd have committed that story to memory so much he'd believe he was living it. That's the kind of person that he is. I think his simple-mindedness is actually a plus in this mission. And I feel bad for calling it a mission, but that's what it's turning out to be..._

"And what if he genuinely does start to believe whatever story we tell him? How will he know when it's time to come back?" Leon demanded.

Chihiro wrote a little bit more before handing it to Kaito, who started again:

_We can hypnotize him. Himiko-san, who came with us, used to do stuff like that as part of her parlor trick acts before the pandemic. She thought she was out of practice when she tried it on Gonta-san, but he was under in only six seconds! I thought it'd work since when I first met him, back in Kakogawa, he'd have these moments of silence before he suddenly understood what was going on around him. I thought it was some kind of self-hypnosis. When we first met, he didn't understand why I ignored him or couldn't hear anything he said. I motioned to my ears and mouth, but he didn't get it. Then, all of a sudden, he did. Like a great wave had come over him or something._

_When Himiko-san attempted to hypnotize him, she tried with something really strange. She said: 'When I say the word elephant, you'll get a great feeling to go stand on your head,' Half an hour later, she said that randomly and Gonta-san walked straight down the block and put his head down on it, supporting his weight with his hands. Afterwards, he fell down and just gave us a knowing smile._

"I can just imagine that!" Yasuhiro laughed.

_Anyway, I'm trying to say that...I think the hypnotism idea could really work. We could suggest he returns by the full moon, and put him under again when he returns to find out what he saw._

Kaito cleared his throat. "That's everything he wrote down,"

Leon whistled. Chihiro blushed awkwardly and looked down.

"But what if he_ does_ get captured and tells Junko everything about what we're doing?" Aoi asked. "Could you hypnotize him or program him or whatever to...not tell?"

"I think the fashionista has a good idea of what it is we're doing already," Yasuhiro shivered. "She appears in our dreams all of the time still! So surely she could also like, read our minds!"

Makoto shook his head. "Any further discussion?"

Sayaka stood up in a huff, glaring at Chihiro. "Yes! Yes, there is! I don't know what's wrong with all of you! How can you possibly be okay with this?! What of our souls?! What of our decency? I just can't imagine any of you being okay with them torturing him, sticking things under his nails or burning him alive or whatever!" She trembled, looking at Chihiro. "He's your close friend, Fujisaki-san, yet you're treating him like a headless chicken running around..."

"Sayaka-chan.." Makoto tried to reach out for her, but she shook him off.

"I won't cry or storm off in a huff if I get outvoted, but I need to say this. It's what we're all here for, right? And I just don't like the idea of sending such a sweet and harmless boy out there to fend for himself. That's what he is, a boy! Only a year older than Hifumi-san, and you want to do this to him? What if they kill him, Fujisaki-san? Kill all of our spies, with a new and more destructive version of the Despair Disease?" She breathed heavily, tears forming in her eyes.

Chihiro bit his lip and very slowly wrote out a response, giving it to Kaito. He put his hands on his chest and looked away.

_I feel like the worst person alive right now for even suggesting this in the first place. Gonta-san is indeed my best friend and the person closest to me. I don't feel happy treating him like a toy. I don't feel happy about sending him into a situation where he could be tortured and then killed. But what else can we do? She's crucifying people, burning them alive, electrocuting them, all kinds of other horrible tortures and executions. I see it all in my dreams, and I know you all do too. Miss Chiaki dreams of it as well. And that's who we're doing this for; her. Her and her battle and her version of hope. And Junko's evil. There's no doubting that. She is fully capable of developing a new version of Despair Disease, and then she would use it on us. No doubt about that. I want to be able to stop her before it's too late._

"But this will make us no better than her. Will it really stop? Tell me, Fujisaki-san. Would we really be able to stop and make things better after this?"

Chihiro held his notebook in front of his face and pointed out: _Sorry, but...I really don't know..._

"Then I vote no. I can't have this on my conscious." Sayaka ran her hand through her hair. "We should at least send people who are fully aware of what they're doing,"

"Um, can I say no too? Just because...at this point, we'll have an alcoholic and a feeb...I'm sorry, but that's what he is..." Aoi pouted.

"Yasuhiro-san?" Makoto started to look around the room.

"Yes,"

"Fujisaki-san?"

A nod.

"Kaito-san?"

"I'm not very comfortable with the idea either, but if Chihiro-kun thinks it's a good idea, then I'm all for it. Yes,"

"Leon-san?"

"I think this idea sucks. Simply because of what Sayaka-chan said earlier. But I guess this is what it feels like to be in politics, huh? Fucking great then. Yes,"

"Hifumi-san?"

"I don't know...I think at the very least, it should be people of a sound mind leading the group! So...no, I guess,"

"5-3," Makoto counted.

Sayaka sniffled a bit. "Wait...I...I kinda want to change my vote. If we're really going to do this, then we're doing it together. I feel horrible for yelling at Fujisaki-san...I should've thought through your own feelings better. I can tell you're deeply hurt by this by your face...oh, I never thought I'd have to ever make such choices like this! I say yes,"

Aoi shrugged. "Then I say yes too. We're all in this together now!"

Everyone then looked over at Hifumi, who jumped a bit.

"Um, I would still like to humbly and respectfully disagree with that! People of sound-mind would still be best," He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"7-1," Makoto added, pulling Sayaka close to him. "Do you need a tissue or something?"

Sayaka just sniffled.

"I love you,"

"And on that note, I vote we...leave, or whatever the word is," Leon said.

"I vote to leave too!" Aoi jumped up.

Makoto smiled. "All who vote to adjourn, raise your hand. Anyone who declines, gets a can of soda dumped into their head,"

Everyone laughed and raised their hands.

Sayaka wiped her eyes off and gave a red-bean-paste dumpling to everyone as they left, bowing gratefully.

"I'd say that meeting went off quite well!" Yasuhiro laughed.

"Yeah, but that wasn't even our real one. So it doesn't count," Leon rolled his eyes.

"I quite liked it. Never saw myself for government before, but now? I think I could get used to it," Hifumi beamed proudly.

"I thought it was fun! Oh, are you going to eat that?" Aoi asked Chihiro happily. He stared at her before quickly taking a bite, making her laugh. She took his hand and squeezed it. He blushed heavily.

"Alright, let's get you two lovebirds back home, Harumaki's making sushi," Kaito teased the two.

Sayaka waved at them before she smiled and closed the door. There were only two pairs of shoes left in the doorway.

"Huh?" Where did Makoto go? She shrugged to herself and went upstairs to their room, carefully untying her kimono and pinning her hair up. It was a little bit longer than before; she found she quite liked that style too. She slipped on her pajamas and read beside some candles for most of the night, looking up after she grew tired and closed her book.

"Makoto-kun...are you coming to bed?" She asked shyly, noticing him standing on the balcony in his pajamas.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! What time is it?" He asked.

"Almost Midnight," She giggled. "You have a lot on your mind?"

"Yeah..." He blushed as he drank some of his water on the bedside table and wrinkled his nose at the boiled taste of it. She stared at him lovingly in those brilliant white cotton pajamas, the buttons and drawstring placed exactly in the right areas. "I was just thinking about our meeting," He slid into bed next to her.

"I thought you did a good job as our moderator! Yasuhiro-san said he was thinking of getting you to do it at our official meeting!" She then gasped. "Oh, did you decline? Is that what you're worried about?"

"No, I agreed," He shook his head. "I just...I feel bad about sending those three across the ocean to act as spies. They're such good members of our community, and if anything bad happened to them..." She gently took his hand. "Fujisaki-san is also right though. What should we do?"

"Listen to your heart and go to bed," She leaned over and blew the candles out, feeling Makoto wrap his arms around her in the dark.

"Good night, I love you," He mumbled.

She stayed awake for a very long time, just staring at the ceiling and thinking of that salty thumbprint in her journal.

_All good things must come to an end._

Should she tell Makoto?

No. She was just overreacting. This was purely her problem to deal with, no sense in dragging Makoto in too when he already had so much else to deal with.

She finally fell asleep after an hour and a half.

* * *

Chiaki pouted to herself as she ate the last gummy from her candy bag. It felt squishy in her mouth and she crinkled the bag up. Her heart was beating rapidly and her palms were so sweaty her control was slipping. She finally tossed the controller away and stared straight ahead blankly.

Something was wrong. Something was seriously, seriously wrong. But what? She placed a hand on her stomach absentmindedly, then her hairdo. She had felt uneasy ever since Big Brother Hifumi and Big Sister Mukuro arrived just within a week or so of each other. They were also the community members she saw the very least.

"Something bad is going to happen," Chiaki spoke out-loud, finally standing up. She wobbled a bit and placed her hand out, feeling around on the walls for her bedroom. She collapsed into bed with her clothes on and her hair still up, falling asleep.

In her dream, she smelled her beloved rice patties and felt the weight of a full net of fish sling over her shoulder, being dragged merrily along. The unsteadiness of her feet in too-big boots and the summery breeze against her yukata's thin fabric.

"Soran, Soran, yes, yes-!" She sung out before suddenly stopping, blinking her eyes a few times. "Who's there?" She defiantly called.

"Your savior," The female voice cackled, and Chiaki felt those long red nails slowly trail down her cheek. She squeezed her eyes tighter. "Awww, why do you not want to see me, Dancer? I'm quite pretty!" She cooed. "I can give you vision, you know. All the video games you could play. The thought of never worrying about your community ever again. I'll take care of them,"

Chiaki remained frozen, stiff and defiant. She tightened her grip on the net.

"Can't speak, huh? I know you're not dumb!" She shoved a finger into Chiaki's face, making her step back. Finally, she opened her eyes and beheld the blonde figure of a woman wearing an open grey tench-coat with a black bikini underneath it and a choker.

"I will never join you. My place is here, with my people, for hope," She said, closing her eyes again.

"But you've gotten soft. Grown soft and lazy and pampered. You don't even know what's coming. You'll never know what's coming until it's far too late,"

Chiaki woke up with a gasp, breathing heavily with a hand on her heart. The fashionista's voice still rang through her head and she shivered.

Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

She crawled out of bed and slowly undid her kimono and hair, letting the elaborate obi and kanzashi fall to the floor. She heard the pins scatter and drop. She felt around her dresser and slowly enclosed her hand around a pair of scissors and raised them up to her tangled locks. With a deep breath, she sliced through the long curls, taking a breath as a huge weight was suddenly lifted from her head. The air felt cool against her neck and she ran a hand through the short bob, dropping the scissors. It felt light.

Did she look cute?

No, it wasn't the time for questions like that.

She pulled out her simple unpatterned yellow yukata with the boots and slipped them both on, shivering again.

"They'll know. They'll know and understand if they respect me," She dipped a small brush softly in ink and delicately wrote out a note in gentle strokes, leaving it on top of her Super Famicom system as she knew that'd be the first place they looked. She blew her bangs out of her face.

"I'm sorry, but this is for the town's own good," She whispered to herself as she took nothing from the house, placing her hands in front of her as she silently slipped off into the night, heading for the mountains.


	14. Makoto 5: A Housebreaking

**Makoto 5: A Housebreaking**  
**Hiroshima; August 10th, 1994**

**#####**

The next morning, Makoto and Chihiro started to do more work on the power-plant when Yasuhiro suddenly burst in, looking distressed.

"L-Lady Nanami! She's gone! She left in the middle of the night!" He cried out.

Chihiro's eye widened in horror.

"What?" Makoto slowly looked over.

"I went over to her place first thing today since I heard from Yamada-chi two new groups were coming in and you know how she likes to greet them. So I knocked, then let myself in when I didn't get an answer. Since, you know, she might've been engrossed in her video games. I literally turned that house upside down...she's gone, man! Just completely gone!" Yasuhiro carried on. "And I found this on her Super-Famicom system." He pulled out the delicate sheet of calligraphy paper, wincing at how wrinkled it had gotten. "Read this!"

Written in fine, delicate strokes, too small and careful for a blind person, was:

_I've gone off by myself. I just have this feeling, a horrible feeling, that something is going to go very wrong in the community soon. But I've been so distracted with everything lately I haven't been able to properly look inside myself. Once I find peace and figure out what it is I've been missing, I'll be with you soon. So please don't worry about me!_  
_-Lady Nanami Chiaki_

"Oh man, everyone is going to freak out about this!" Yasuhiro cried.

"Maybe we should arrange a meeting or something," Makoto suggested, noticing Chihiro staring intently at the paper. He finally handed it back to Yasuhiro and shook his head at Makoto's repeated question.

_What for? I'm not sure if that'll do anything,_ Chihiro wrote.

"Well, what about a search party then? Surely she couldn't have gotten far,"

_How will you bring her back if you do find her? What if she doesn't wish to come back yet? You...you aren't going to actually chain her up and drag her back here, are you?_ Chihiro looked concerned, and Makoto gasped.

"No! Nobody's going to be dragged back here in chains!" He declared. "But what of it? She feels like she made the universe upset somehow and wants to isolate herself in the wilderness like a monk,"

_That's exactly what she did._

"We have to go after her! She's just a teenage girl, but she might as well be Buddha or God or whoever else around here! People are going to freak out once they learn she's gone! And besides, what about her? She's blind! She might fall down a ditch and break her leg or something and not even realize it!" Yasuhiro said.

_We should just...not worry about it. After all, she wanted to go, dragging her back will just make things worse, and the community can adapt to life without her, as mean as that sounds. Nobody's going to leave just because she's gone,_

"Fujisaki-san is right," Makoto nodded. "But at the same time...I love her, and that's why I'm afraid of imagining some blind girl out there in the wilderness, all by herself. She might actually get into trouble, or sick or something and wouldn't even know..."

Yasuhiro put his hand on Makoto's shoulder. "She _chose_ to go," He reminded him softly, and Makoto nodded slowly. "I've learned you can test a country's faith by removing their object of worship. Maybe when Lady Nanami gets back, they'll throw a whole parade for her,"

Makoto turned to stare at the mountains in the distance. "I just hope that she's okay..."

* * *

Sayaka hadn't even known Chiaki was gone, as she spent her whole morning at the book-store, returning some books and looking for some others. She still felt a bit awkward in the store, dressed in her old uniform of months-past with a bow in her hair, almost feeling like a criminal. But, who would exchange her money for her books? She wasn't the only one around in the store either; a group of teenagers were sitting at a table, poring over house-keeping magazines and textbooks, while an older gentleman read a book on gardening. Sayaka's own were on cleaning and cooking, as well as more traditional arts like sewing and ikebana.

As she gathered up the copies she wanted, she left the library and bumped into someone, gasping a bit. "Oh, sorry, Tayu-san!" She replied breezily. "Afternoon!" She bowed nicely.

"Afternoon yourself!" Tayu bowed back in response. She was one of the girls rescued from the harem several weeks ago; then even being unable to speak but now resembling a healthy teenage girl around Sayaka's age. She wore her hair in a ponytail tied with a ribbon and modified a white nightgown into a makeshift carnation-pink idol gown-lookalike. "Going back home?"

Sayaka nodded. "Yes, you?" She noticed the jade earrings Tayu wore and motioned to them. "I've never seen earrings like that before, are they new?"

"Yeah! Got them from that jewelry store in town. Dangly earrings are popular. You should get a pair, I think Makoto-san might like them," She teased.

Sayaka blushed. "I actually have a few pairs at home already..."

"Speaking of which, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Miss Chiaki is gone,"

Sayaka gasped. "Gone?!"

"Yup. I've been polling people about when they think she'll come back. You?" She looked away boredly.

"I didn't even know she was gone...I spent my morning at the book-store..." She admitted softly.

"She was discovered missing this morning by Hagakure-san, with a note on her Super-Famicom system that said she'd return soon once she finds her inner peace," Tayu relayed excitedly. "So I'm sure she'll be back in a week or so, tops,"

"Yeah..." Sayaka just nodded a bit, feeling numb. "How are you doing? Any headaches or night terrors?"

"Nope, I feel perfectly fine! Anyway, I gotta go. I'll be voting for you!" She flashed her a peace-sign.

"Huh?!" Sayaka stared back at her, making Tayu pout in annoyance.

"For the permanent committee!"

"Oh yeah...I'm still not sure if I want to be on that or not,"

"You'll do great, I'm sure of it! You and Asahina-san both. Okay, bye!" They both bowed to each other before Sayaka continued to walk back to her home.

Chiaki being gone filled her with a sense of unknown dread. With her gone, the council had no higher moral guardian to send their ideas to for additional thought, like the one about sending out spies. Chiaki would know the right thing to do, the right thing to say. Well, there was always Makoto to comfort her, at least. He'd know what to say.

When she arrived back at their house, however, everything was silent and she paused a bit. "Makoto-kun? Makoto-kun!" She called out, running into the kitchen. Left on the table was a note that said: _Gone out with Kaito and Hifumi. Be back by nine-thirty, don't worry about me! Makoto,_

She felt a sudden chill go down her back, one that her short-sleeved blouse couldn't contain. But why? Why was she suddenly worried for Makoto? Nothing bad could happen to him. They'd all just be hanging out in Hifumi's house, that little doll of his making them all tea, and she would've been worried for no reason...!

_He stole your diary and read it though. A man like that wouldn't respect what's another's property. If he truly hated someone, he'd wait until they were alone, then push him off a cliff or stab him or shoot him._

Sayaka shook her head as she went to their bedroom, telling herself it was just her pregnancy talking. Besides, Hifumi was no fool. He knew if he did something horrible like that, he'd be kicked out of the community, and then where would he go? Remembering what Tayu told her earlier, she clipped on a pair of red earrings she thought matched her bow she thought Makoto would like, then headed outside where two shiny red bikes were parked; owned by the house's previous owners.

She carefully settled herself down on one and supported her small bump awkwardly with a hand before she started pedaling off the sidewalk and into the road, making a beeline for Hifumi's place.

_They'll be there, and you'll feel like such a fool for overthinking this,_ She thought to herself.

* * *

Except Hifumi's fenced-in house was completely silent when Sayaka arrived. She always found it strange how he moved so out of the way compared to everyone else in town; sure, Aiko lived with him, but he had no other neighbors to speak of, and the stores he lived around saw such few guests. Hifumi never struck her as the kind of guy who preferred the quiet, but he _was_ a fanfic writer at the same time. Maybe he liked total silence to better concentrate and some doll to give him sandwiches and tea so he wouldn't have to break that hard-earned concentration. Still, he was a respected member of the community, he had people who'd consider themselves to be his friends. Why did he insist on living all alone out here?

She slowly got off her bike and jiggled the door, gasping a bit when she heard the signature click of a lock behind it. Nobody locked their doors at Hope's Peak; they were all trusted friends and thus anyone could just walk into someone's place anytime they wanted. Well, surely that girl he lived with wouldn't stay behind a locked door?

She kept jiggling it for several more seconds before giving up, wandering around the outside of the house more. She wasn't a lockpicker, so surely there must've been some other way inside the house...yes, there!

She squatted down and pulled open one of the open basement windows a little more with a grunt, dropping onto her side and wriggling her way through, gasping when she hit the top of a closed box hard.

"Ouch..." She sighed, pulling herself back up.

The room she was in was an obvious rec-room, quite clearly used even though she knew for a fact Hifumi didn't own any of that stuff. A giant leather couch with a colourful quilt thrown on the back was in front of a tiny TV that had a shelf across from it painted purple. Sayaka looked over curiously and saw a massive collection of anime and Disney movies all on VHS. There was also an air-hockey table with a crate of Diet Cokes settled onto it, a few mannequins with half-finished dresses on them-too elaborate to be anything other than cosplay, but Sayaka couldn't recognize them by sight alone-and a few movie posters placed on the walls. One was of the Nagoya skyline at night and she found herself sniffling. She missed her home suddenly; with the beautiful coast and the roller-coasters and the accents. Oh how she missed the familiar accent of her home. She was all-too-aware of how strange she sounded compared to everyone else at Hope's Peak; the way she shortened her phrases and added emphasis onto everything...she sounded like an absolute ditz and newcomers often had to ask her to repeat what she said. They all spoke Japanese, but she might as well have been speaking something else for the looks they gave her.

She sniffled again and walked up the stairs quietly, having taken her shoes off in front of the box already. She wasn't about to just desecrate someone else's house, even if it was Hifumi's.

The kitchen smelled faintly like chicken and she clutched her stomach, noticing a piece of paper left under the sugar bowl; empty. Curious, she slid the note out and skimmed it:

_Master Hifumi! I may be back by the time you actually find this, but just in case! I went out shopping to get more fabric for my kimono. And a cute little matching bag too! Don't worry, I locked the door behind me just like you told me to do! -Aiko_

Sayaka left the note where she found it. That explained why the house was empty, but she'd have to be extra careful that Aiko didn't come home early and spot her.

There was nothing else of interest in the kitchen, so she headed into the living room, feeling around as the blinds were tightly closed and pulled down so not a crack of sunlight showed.

"Why? Normally we do that for houses that we can't have because they have dead people in them..." Sayaka wondered to herself, looking over the large bookcase in the room. A few books were haphazardly placed near the middle, and she grew curious and started to reach for them when she heard the quick and neat sound of someone knocking on the door.

In an unthinking flash, she pressed herself up against the side of the bookcase, covering her mouth up as her heart thundered in her ears and her own breath grew heavy. She remained perfectly still and stiff, even as she heard the quiet, tell-tale dribbles of urine patter onto the floor from under her skirt.

The knocking came again, more uniform and louder that time.

In a panic, Sayaka wondered if the houseguest was going to sneak in around the back and recalled her bike being parked out there; anyone who went by the basement windows would likely see it. At least the blinds were closed.

"Anyone home?" The voice, a woman's, called out, knocking once more before she evidently turned and started walking down the concrete sidewalk. Sayaka allowed herself a sigh of relief and slinked out from the side of the bookshelf, silently pulling down one of the blinds in a fit of morbid curiosity.

The owner of the voice was a thin woman with freckles and black hair, a pink plastic barrette in her hair, the oddest and girliest thing about her appearance. She got on her own blue bicycle and pedaled away rapidly, and Sayaka felt her eyes widen.

"That's Ikusaba-san! She came over with Leon-san, didn't she? But why is she trying to talk to Hifumi-san? I never knew they were close,"

_You barely talk to Hifumi though. They could be very close and you wouldn't even know it._ She frowned.

Feeling too startled and sick to continue searching, she treaded back down the stairs and glanced up at the window, finding it level with her eyes. Needing a way out, she noticed another box tucked into the corner and slowly dragged it over, placing it on top of the first box. It seemed tall enough then.

"Master Hifumi! Are you back yet? Are you downstairs?" A childish and cheerful voice called out, and in horror, Sayaka threw herself onto the boxes and scrambled out the window, nearly getting herself caught in the frame before she eased herself out with a groan. Not stopping, she sat down hard on her bike and pedaled out of there rapidly, breathing heavily.

She didn't fully recover until she got back to her place and thought of the oily stain in her diary, and Makoto being with Hifumi for the night.

Please be safe, and please come back soon. I miss you. I need you, She thought to herself. She looked at herself in the mirror and started to take her earrings off, pausing when only one came off. Did the other fall off? Where?

She suddenly froze.

* * *

Makoto, Kaito, and Hifumi had spent the majority of the day biking and walking around the hills leading up to the mountains, communicating through Walkie-Talkies. It had been several hours already and Hifumi felt himself starting to get spent. They had been searching all day! He deserved a little break, so he asked to investigate the shortest stretch of land after he took the long way around. That was what sapped up his energy. Heck, he could barely bike that whole length, and they're thinking a tiny blind girl could? He leaned back on his bike slightly, hearing the static-y voice of Kaito coming through as he ate some chips.

"I'm up by the amphitheater...she's not here...it looks like it's about to storm though..."

"I didn't see any sign of her either." That was Makoto's end.

"I'm going to head back...dark soon...don't wanna get lost..."

"How about you, Hifumi-san?" Makoto asked seriously; he was closer to Hifumi so his voice came out clearer.

Hifumi sipped at his soda, feeling a sudden twinge of guilt. He shouldn't be sitting there relaxing, he should be busting his butt off trying to find Miss Chiaki, the girl who brought them all together! She was just as defenseless as he was several weeks ago and is counting on him. A real girl was counting on him to save her life! How the tables have turned. Not to mention, Chihiro seemed very stressed over it that morning. If he rescued Chiaki, Chihiro would apologize for even daring to think he wasn't council material! Yes, he'd bring her back and carry her across the threshold of her own house while the community cheered him on. It was perfect!

He stood up and wiped the oil off on his pants, perking up when he saw a discolored lump sprawled out in a nearby ditch. Eagerly, he hurried over to it, calling her name all the while, only to frown when he saw it was just an old jacket.

"Hifumi-san? Are you still there? Have you found anything?" Makoto asked in concern over the speaker. Hifumi glanced at it as he walked by, feeling a sudden prick in his heart. This wasn't the pang of guilt he received earlier, no...this was a different kind of prick, a more delicious and evil kind. He could almost feel her finely-manicured nails reaching around his neck to caress it. Why were they purple today and not red...?

"Hifumi-san!" Makoto called.

He rolled his eyes at the tone and pressed the button, subtly giving him a rude gesture behind his back.

"I'm still here. I was too far away to hear you properly at first," He rolled his eyes again.

"That's okay. Have you found anything?"

"Just an old jacket in a ditch," He feigned disappointment, though he couldn't help some of his actual disappointment trickling in there. He wanted to help Miss Chiaki...

"Looks like all three of us came out empty. Oh well...there's always another day. Meet us in the park at the edge of town, okay? Meet me there, Hifumi-san. We'll wait for Kaito-san," Makoto relayed.

"Yes, Sir Makoto!" Hifumi nodded, getting back onto his bike.

"Did you hear that, Kaito-san?!" Makoto yelled loudly into the speaker, making Hifumi wince. He somehow suppressed the urge to make yet another rude gesture again and just kept biking._ Stop yelling so much, you're going to blow out someone's eardrums. You're just trying to compensate for the fact you were a loser before. Not all of us are divinely-gifted from the get-go._

He then turned his own Walkie-Talkie off and ran a hand along his heavy green jacket; from an outfitter's store. The atmosphere grew chilly even in August at certain altitudes, but that wasn't the main reason why he had it. No, that was to hide the shiny black gun he secretly brought.

Did he mean to bring a gun? No. But a dark, sick feeling similar to the one he had just a few minutes ago whispered in his ear, telling him to take it just in case. And so he did. That dark feeling remained quiet in his system after that though, and he had no clue why he was meant to bring a gun. He kept it hidden though, afraid of self-righteous Kaito or goodie-goody Makoto learning he had it.

He continued to pedal, feeling suddenly sick at ease.

* * *

Makoto heard Hifumi's bike long before he saw him and gave him a friendly wave over in his direction, having finished setting up a fire pit. Hifumi pedaled over and placed his bike next to Makoto's red one, letting it tip over slightly.

He had to admit, Hifumi's idea was a great one, even if nothing eventually came of it. He suddenly felt a twinge of guilt over the thoughts he and Sayaka had been having over Hifumi lately; the guy was probably genuinely trying to turn over a new leaf and was just awkward and unsure of how to go about it. There were plenty of other people who led questionable lives prior that were still welcomed because they wanted to genuinely change and had goodness in their hearts. Hifumi was the same, Makoto just knew it.

"Nothing either, huh?" He asked as he caught the other's frown in the light.

"Nope," Hifumi looked away from him, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"It was a good idea nonetheless, and I'm really proud of you for thinking it up. We can always try again tomorrow," He offered him a smile, but got no response. "Hey, why don't you come over to my place for dinner? Sayaka-chan would be happy to see you too, I bet. Maybe you could even bring Aiko-chan and make it be a double-date of sorts," He teased easily.

"No thank you. I realized that...yes, I had a thing for Sayaka-sama. A major thing. But...you two are perfect for each other. The star couple. You'd be like the kind and heartfelt poster boy who saved her, the pretty and sweet idol girl, from getting hit by a car with toast in her mouth. She's so honored she dates you and the rest is history," Hifumi stated. "So I think it's best to just let it go, Sir Makoto. That's the best option any of us could agree with,"

"Well...I hope you'll reconsider. And I also want to thank you again for this idea. Nobody else seemed to be as hopeful as us that she was worth looking for..." Makoto bowed. "So thanks again,"

"Yeah," Hifumi stood there for a few more seconds before he slowly removed his hands and placed them at his sides, bowing as well. Makoto noticed his right hand got caught on something-the zipper.

"Oh, Kaito-san is coming down the hill! Thank goodness, I didn't want him to get into an accident! And someone's with him too!" Makoto called out, shielding his eyes.

"Huh?" Hifumi craned his neck to look, seeing indeed two flashing headlights coming down the hill towards them. "Oh, yeah. Another motorcycle," He waved his hand dismissively.

"Are you alright?" Makoto blinked.

"Don't worry about me, Sir Makoto! I'm just tuckered out after so much biking,"

The second motorcycle light belonged to Yasuhiro, while Chihiro was riding on the back of Kaito's, grabbing onto him tightly.

"How are things here?" Kaito asked breezily. "One of my first times driving one of these things, but I think I did alright! What do you think, Chihiro-kun?" He glanced back with a grin, which Chihiro answered with a thumbs-up and a sickly smile. "Disappointed that the search was a bust though..."

"There's always tomorrow," Makoto reminded him nicely. Chihiro took a shaky hand to his notebook and wrote something down, showing it to everyone:

_Who wants to go to mine and Kaito-san's place? We could have coffee or beer...or both I guess, but that doesn't sound very good. The girls are going to try and make the coffee fresh._

"That sounds good! Want to come with us?" Makoto addressed Hifumi, but he was already walking towards his bike. "Hifumi-san?" He tried again but got waved off.

"I'm just feeling very beat tonight! I think I'm going to go straight home and fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow! You know how it is some nights!" He got back onto his bike and pedaled off.

* * *

When Hifumi returned to his house, he slowly opened the door and jumped a mile when he saw Aiko in the kitchen; making her scream, then he screamed.

"Jeezh, don't sneak up on me like that!" He scolded without thinking. The gun felt like molten rock in his pocket.

"I'm terribly sorry, Master Hifumi!" Aiko bowed deeply, wearing a frilly pink apron and matching slippers.

"Right, sorry. I'm just tired tonight," He originally planned to write in his journal and even looked longingly at the bookshelf, but found it too risky with Aiko as cheerful as she was that night. No, he'd have to wait until the very early morning when she was still asleep.

"I'm making cupcakes, want some?" She asked without missing a beat.

"No, I'm going to bed," And he started to do so, turning out two of the gas lamps in the living room but leaving a third one on just so she'd have a bit more light to see. No sense in her accidentally burning herself or otherwise making a mess. The gun felt ready to burn a hole in his pocket at that point and he quickly locked the front door, briskly walking into the hallway.

He had almost shot Makoto. He really had that thought in his head at one point! Him! Shooting Makoto! While the guy easily wasn't one of his most favorite people, he was attempting to make his peace with him, and even so, he wouldn't actually shoot him! No way! The she-devil wouldn't win...

He lit a candle and carried it with him to his bedroom, pausing as he noticed the door to the rec-room opened.

"Aiko-chan? Doll? Did you go downstairs today?" He called out, freezing when she cheerfully answered in the negative. He tightened his grip on the candle and went downstairs himself, feeling his skinny body tremble greatly as the shadows grew larger and longer in the dim light.

The VHS tapes, the posters, the costumes, the air-hockey table...nothing seemed to be out of place. Perhaps he truly had just left the door open earlier in his rush to leave. It happened to the best of people-

He caught something shining on the floor next to a stack of boxes by the window and headed over there, bending down and picking up a single red earring shaped like a jewel.

Definitely not Aiko's; her old school had a very strict 'no pierced ears' rule. And she wouldn't wear such a deep shade of red anyway.

He slipped the earring into his pocket, at first just thinking some girls had gotten together to watch movies and gossip and giggle and do whatever else it was girls did; Aiko likely invited a huge group over and one was just unfortunate enough to drop her earring, it happened to the best of people.

Except he recalled his journal. Could someone have-

No way. If not even Aiko knew of its existence, then he was sure nobody else knew.

He slinked back into the living room, shutting the rec-room door behind him and carefully watching Aiko. She was adjusting a pair of headphones on her head and was holding a cassette up to the light curiously.

Feeling relief in knowing she was distracted, he grabbed his journal from the bookshelf and ran to his room, shoving both it and the gun underneath his pillow. He blew the candle out and stripped down, crawling into bed and trembling as he thought of what to do about the journal.

He couldn't just burn it; some of his best writing was in there; he couldn't just hide it in a bank safe as he wanted to freely look at it, so the next step was to hide it somewhere in the house again, someplace better. But where?

_It needs to be practically invisible...nobody should be able to find it...Sayaka...if she had taken that advice...if she had hid hers better than I would've never known..._

He suddenly sat up with a gasp. Sayaka had pierced ears. His sister often swapped earrings with her and even gifted her a pair on Sayaka's thirteenth birthday. Was that earring hers? Did she wear such deep shades of red? Did she know about his journal?

He finally fell into a fitful sleep, often yelling out into the dark at the accursed she-devil. Aiko stared at him secretly through the doorway, a deeply concerned look in her mismatched eyes.

* * *

Makoto got back to the house at around nine-forty-five, finding Sayaka already tucked into bed and reading a book on calligraphy. She was wearing a shirt of his that rode up on her thighs and went halfway up her elbows due to their height difference. When she noticed him, she closed her book and got up.

"Where were you? I was worried!" She exclaimed.

Makoto quickly explained about Hifumi's idea that him and Kaito help search for Chiaki, sighing as he admitted they found nothing. He pulled off his shirt. "I would've taken you with us, but we couldn't find you,"

"I was at the book-store," Sayaka stared at Makoto's body, noticing the outlines of where he was developing a few muscles from the extensive and grueling work. Almost every guy was getting muscles though; even tiny, doll-like Chihiro was beginning to show the signs of bulking up.

She then turned her thoughts to Hifumi reading her diary again and pondered on that thought. Originally she had been worried that reading it would turn Hifumi on Makoto, but...he seemed to be perfectly fine. And what if she truly_ was_ over-thinking it? What if he read her diary and saw how pointless chasing after her was? And Makoto would just grow angry at Hifumi and make the problem worse? She was being silly...maybe there really _was_ nothing to worry about after all.

"So, no sign of her?" She asked after a time.

"No..."

"How was Hifumi-san? Did he take it well?"

"Yeah, actually. I felt pretty bad for him since it failed...I actually told him he could come over here to dinner with us any time he wanted though," Makoto started to take off his pants. "Could even bring that girl of his, make it like a double-date. I felt you'd be okay with it, but let me know if you're not,"

"That sounds fine. Aiko-chan is quite dear to me as you already know," Sayaka smiled warmly.

_I must be losing my mind, inviting him over for dinner like this,_

"We'll have another search party tomorrow. Hifumi-san seemed to be pretty keen on the idea. Only if she's not back by then, of course,"

"I'd like to come too. And there's some other people around town who don't think she's dead yet, like Leon-san or Ishimaru-san," She nodded.

"That sounds great! The more people we have, the more area we can cover," He got into bed next to her. "Hey, that's my shirt...!"

"Yes, yes it is," Sayaka teased, blushing.

"Doesn't fit you very well...are...are you covered underneath?"

She giggled. "You still sound like a blushing school-boy over this, Makoto-kun. Why don't you see for yourself?"

She was, in fact, not covered underneath at all.


	15. Makoto 6: Relaxation

**Makoto 6: Relaxation**

**Hiroshima; August 11th, 1994**

**######**

The next morning after breakfast, a small search party started up to look for Chiaki some more once again; Makoto, Sayaka, Hifumi, Leon, and Kaede. After four hours they had twelve more people helping, then by the early evening hours they had close to the whole community searching; taking a break as a thunderstorm blew in but quickly resuming afterwards. They had at first accepted Chiaki's disappearance because she was still how they saw her in dreams; beautiful and regal; nearly a queen. But a queen was nothing if she had no kingdom to rule, and if she was beloved enough, then her subjects would grow frantic and search for her.

Their thoughts on the matter became more realistic. She may indeed be divine and regal and queen-like and whatever else, but she was still a young girl who had never been out on her own before. Not only that, but she was blind. A blind girl was out on her own for nearly a night and it was about to become two. Everyone in the community had seen the horrors of trying to survive in such a harsh world and most were perfectly fine. They dreaded what such a world would do to a girl like her.

"Most of these people will be fine. They're perfectly rational people! They aren't going to let this go to their head!" Yasuhiro declared after the darkness made continuing the search impossible. "In most people, superstitions take time to grow. It's like that old sayin' about a horseshoe. You build a barn and hang the horseshoe up-right for good luck. But if a nail falls and takes the horseshoe with it, you don't just abandon the barn! And maybe a day really will come when our children or grandchildren do, but that day is far away from us. We'll be just fine, just a bit uneasy and scared."

_But Miss Chiaki was put here to even out the scores. She's our answer to The Fashionista. If she's truly gone..._ Chihiro anxiously tapped his pen against his paper.

"Don't remind me of that, dude! I don't want to think about it either...!" He panicked.

"Are our children really going to grow up and become superstitious like that? Avoiding school because their stomachs feel cold and never writing in red ink and not stepping on the edge of a tatami mat?" Sayaka demanded. "Tradition is important and all, but..."

"For once, my crystal ball is silent on that issue. I don't know! The point is, two things brought us here; the rational and the irrational. The rational part was the crazies. It doesn't matter if our government released them or the Chinese or the Americans or whoever else. It's been done. And honestly, I think something like that would've happened anyway at some other time. It just happened to be now; Great Plague of '94. And the irrational are obviously our dreams. The council can't talk about it but we aren't in a meeting right now! And come on, none of us can make any sense of those dreams. We just know they all beckoned us forward here to fulfill some sort of goal bigger than we can possibly comprehend."

"We all have our superstitions though," Makoto said very slowly. "No resting after eating, stay away from school if your stomach feels cold...I nod at every Maneki-Neko that I come across and threw salt over my shoulder after my family returned from my grandparents' funeral. Sacrificing people to appease a god though, or pouring water on trees to comfort spirits? That sort of thing seems like...overkill,"

_Where I'm from, the locals said you had to urinate on a tree,_ Chihiro held his notebook in front of his face. _The tree would come to life and help you out as a thanks for giving it water._

"What? Where does that belief come from?" Makoto asked in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter where it comes from, because none of that is actually true," Sayaka said. "They might have basis in truth, but ultimately aren't,"

"But what if they aren't? Yet another Age of Rationalism has passed. The last time that happened was in our Edo Period. America had quite a few close calls too, like thirty years ago or so. But maybe when rationalism leaves, something else takes its place. We become more aware of...certain things," Yasuhiro continued.

"Like what?" Sayaka asked curiously, feeling a bit frightened. Yasuhiro's eyes seemed to glow in the dark when he looked into hers.

"Spooky things, man! Spooky things like dark magic...like fantasy. Dragons and goblins and fairies and spirits and maybe even the gods themselves..." He paused. "The girl with the bear in her hair is definitely black magic, dark magic, everything evil. That is how she manages to manipulate people into joining her side. But we at least have white magic on our side, everything that's good and kind and just. No amount of actual science will help us there...but the only girl in our whole community who can even stand a chance against the girl with the bear in her hair is still out there somewhere, wandering all alone, probably lost..." He finally trailed off.

It started raining heavily again, splattering against the windows as the wind blew it. Makoto lit a fire as they all took a sudden chill. Yasuhiro looked aimlessly out the window while Sayaka and Makoto stared into the fire, holding their hands. Chihiro silently studied them, endlessly writing out binary codes onto his pad to try and relax himself. He suddenly looked up as he heard a voice in his head-yes, he heard the voice-whisper cruelly:

_She's coming for you. You're next. She's coming for you next, mutie. It won't take her long at all to get to you._

He shivered as he saw the emptied streets of Osaka in his mind.

* * *

Once Chihiro and Yasuhiro left, Sayaka pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them and just continued to watch the fire. The rain had lessened up a tiny bit. Their shadows were long on the walls; she briefly looked at the candle and had a sudden wish for electric lights again, those warm bright lights that hurt your eyes if left on for too long that happened just because you flicked a switch up or down. She sighed and bit her lip, not wishing to start crying.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I got something for you!" Makoto announced, running from the room. She straightened herself up, suddenly feeling curious. A present? For her?

"What is it?" She asked, getting off the couch and following after him. He was rummaging around in their bedroom closet, finally pulling something out.

"Here you go!"

She gasped. "Makoto-kun, this is a..." She carefully took the brown washboard in her hands, running her fingers along it. "But where did you find it?"

"A clothing store, of all places. There's one near the outskirts that was selling a whole mess of them. And washtubs too. Practically enough for every girl in this community," Makoto laughed.

"Oh, that's great news! I'll see if I can get a group of girls together and we can have a wash day or something. It'll help us relax," She smiled. "Can you help _me_ relax now though?"

"Uh, I can certainly try," He very gently and carefully picked her up and carried her up the stairs.

* * *

A day later, Kaito roused his other housemates up with a collection of VHS tapes in his hands. "Look what I found!"

"Don't tell me those are..." Maki started.

"Exercise tapes!" Aoi gasped happily.

"But they won't work,"

"Our house has that generator, remember? We can play them as long as we have a player, and we do!" Kaito dashed from the room. "Go get changed!"

"He is so stupid," Maki sighed and left the room to go get changed. Chihiro just stared at Aoi curiously.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to follow along too!" Aoi reassured him before she left to go get changed too.

Once everyone changed into their tracksuits, they joined Kaito in the living room, who was in the middle of rewinding a tape. Chihiro watched the images rapidly move backwards in fascination; clad in a blue tracksuit.

"What sort of exercise will we be doing?" Aoi asked curiously, wearing a red tracksuit with a matching scrunchie in her hair.

"Just basic stuff like jumping jacks and things like that!" Kaito answered, wearing a purple tracksuit.

"Thankfully nobody will be able to see us," Maki sighed, wearing a black tracksuit with light green scrunchies in her hair.

Kaito finished rewinding the video and started to play it, getting in the middle of their group. Chihiro stood on one end shyly, and Maki stood on the other with Aoi by Chihiro's side.

"Um, I think maybe we should spread out! So we don't accidentally hit someone in the face," Aoi suggested, and they all took several steps apart from each other.

"Let's get ready to exercise! To get fit!" The trainer on the video announced happily, leading them in a few stretches before moving onto the jumping jacks. "Do twenty!"

"Why are we doing this again? We got lots of exercise on the trip here and all of the reconstruction work we do," Maki demanded as they finished the jumping jacks and moved onto twenty sit-ups.

"For motivation! To have fun! To get your spirits up!" Kaito laughed.

Chihiro kept to himself, occasionally putting a hand on his chest, waiting for the labored breathing that hadn't come yet. Even after thirty push-ups; he was breathing heavily, but not dangerously. His chest felt fine, in fact. He marveled at that as he started to jog in place. Prior to the apocalypse, he had trouble walking up a flight of stairs or running a few blocks without dissolving into a panting, sweaty mess. He was like that a few weeks ago, even. It had something to do with his weak immune system. But now, he was feeling stronger.

They did more jumping jacks and curl-ups and push-ups and sprinting before the video finally ended; they were all breathing heavily.

"Put the next one on! Don't keep us waiting!" Aoi commanded, pumping the air with her fist. "I feel all fired-up now!"

"How are you doing though, Chihiro-kun?" Kaito gently tapped Chihiro's shoulder to get him to look over, and he gave an energetic nod. He jokingly flexed his arm, making Kaito laugh. "Starting to develop some muscle, huh? That's great!

"Yeah, he was practically a shrimp when we first came across him," Maki remembered.

"Oh, this volume is about aerobics!" Kaito gasped, and Aoi cheered.

"Put it on, put it on!"

He laughed and did indeed put it on, and they all continued their routine.

* * *

Kaede watched Mukuro curiously as she picked up a brush, stared at it for a very long time, set it down, then picked it up again, repeating the routine for the fourth time. Mukuro seemed tense around the suggestion of anything remotely girly, yet still seemed fascinated with Kaede's own beauty routine. Well, maybe she was just awkward about such things and as a result, didn't know how to ask. She gasped a bit, getting an idea and running to Mukuro.

"I know what we should do! Let's have a girls' day! Just you and me!" She suggested eagerly, startling Mukuro. The brush fell from her hands.

"I don't really like things like that," She mumbled lamely.

"It doesn't have to be all makeup and hair styles and things like that. It can just be a relaxing time spent unwinding in the shower. Things like that can be enjoyable to everyone!" She gently took Mukuro's hand and helped her up. "Besides, you have not taken a single shower since we arrived! I thought the idea of a hot steamy shower after months of cold river water would be enticing,"

"On the battlefield, you don't really get much of a choice. You either don't shower or take what you're given," Mukuro explained with a shrug.

"But we're not on the battlefield! And besides...um...you might fit in a bit better if you...cleaned up some," Kaede led her into the tiny bathroom in their house that just had a shower and cabinet. "Kuwata-kun might notice you more if you did!"

That made Mukuro perk up a bit and she started to unbutton her jacket and blouse, letting them fall to the floor and revealing her plain black bra. As she moved to untie the bow in her hair, however, she paused and stared a bit at Kaede, who was pulling off her own dress.

"Hm? Oh, well I feel a bit dirty too, so why not? Besides, showering is a lot more fun with two people!" She smiled and finished undressing. She then left the room and came back a few minutes later with two buckets filled with steaming water, two sponges, and a blue bottle. Mukuro stood back a few feet, feeling awkward.

It wasn't the naked situation; she never cared about that sort of thing because she found it petty, it was the whole 'Kaede being genuinely kind' situation. Even when others ignored her, Kaede was always there to pick her right back up with a smile. And why? It was clear Leon still had a tiny bit of a thing for Mukuro, or perhaps that was just her hope. Either way, he clearly still liked her when they first met and took a long time to get over that.

"Just because it's a sponge bath doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it," Kaede explained, placing the buckets in the empty shower, pouring the blue solution in and swishing her hand around. "It's bubble-bath solution," She then grabbed Mukuro's wrist and pulled her into the shower with her. The bathroom door was shut and Kaede slid shut the see-through shower door as well. "Let's wash our hair first, actually," She took out a bottle of pink shampoo, rubbing a large lather gently through her locks. "You too!"

Mukuro started to reach for the same bottle, hesitatingly rubbing up a small lather and rubbing it on top of her head. She took the sponge and squeezed the extra water out over her head, feeling the hot water pour down her body and take the shampoo with it.

"Oh, you look so much better already!" Kaede praised, gently running her own sponge down her curls to help wash the shampoo out. "Both of us have a head full of shiny locks now!" She then grabbed the yellow soap and worked up a big lather, running the soapy bubbles down her body. She did it quickly but still caressed all of her important areas, such as her large breasts. Mukuro stared at that specifically. They were a little bit like Junko's...

She tried to grab the soap herself but gasped lightly as it accidentally slipped right out of her fingers and spun around on the floor. She watched it carefully. Kaede laughed easily and scooped it up, gathering a big lather and pulling Mukuro over to her, slowly running the lather down her body.

"Be careful," She demanded a bit.

"I will, don't worry," Kaede reassured Mukuro, also pouring a bit of conditioner into her hair and rubbing it in deeply. "Now, time to wash you off!" She beamed and gently squeezed out the sponge, gently rubbing it around on Mukuro's back first.

Mukuro's eyes widened, somehow just then registering the softness of the sponge and tensed, feeling comforted by it. Kaede continued to gently scrub her, the drops gently rolling down her body.

"How long does that conditioner stuff stay in for?" She asked.

"Just a few minutes more. Why don't you rub some into my hair while we wait?" She suggested nicely, and Mukuro nodded and rubbed a lather up, noticing it smelled like kiwis. She gently ran her hands through Kaede's hair, trying to scrub the conditioner in as deeply as she did with her. "Wow, you're good!"

"Sometimes my sister and I...took baths together when we were young. Since I was older I was practically required to help wash her hair and things," Mukuro shrugged.

"Awww, that sounds so sweet!" Kaede continued to smile and grabbed her own bucket, dumping it over her head. The bubble-bath solution pooled up in her hair and formed little bubble piles on her skin. She then put her hand on Mukuro's hip for slight balance as she started to rinse the conditioner out. Mukuro relaxed a bit into her touch, feeling relaxed by the attention and the conditioner's scent.

"Hey, who's in here?" Leon asked, throwing open the bathroom door. Mukuro dashed away from Kaede, trying to hide in a corner of the shower. All was silent as Kaede and Leon stood there, staring at each other, processing. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't know chicks actually bathed together, ya know?" He teased.

Kaede laughed. "You're welcome to join us!"

Mukuro's relaxed side suddenly wore off and she threw open the shower door in annoyance, treading out of the bathroom and leaving soaking footprints everywhere.

"Mukuro-chan? Don't you want a towel?" Kaede called after her in confusion.

"Your bed will get soaked if you lay in it like that!" Leon tried, but they both got a door slam in reply. Mukuro's bucket was still filled with water.

"No sense in letting all this water go to waste...would you like to join me?" Kaede said breezily, making Leon laugh as he shut the bathroom door again.

"Why not?"

* * *

Kyoko was sitting at the kitchen island, sipping some coffee when Yasuhiro suddenly burst into their shared home, clearly in a frenzy. She briefly glanced over at him before she continued to calmly sip her drink. His face was pale and his eyes were wide, and he rushed over to her.

"Kirigiri-chi! I'm so glad you're here, dude! Well, I honestly would've preferred Naegi-chi, but I think he's at the power plant again and Maizono-chi is over at Akamatsu-chi's place, making cupcakes or something. I just had to tell _someone_, okay?!" He spilled out in a rush. "You aren't going to believe this,"

"Did someone find _her?_" Kyoko asked calmly, setting her drink down, referring to Chiaki.

"No...it's...it's a good thing, but it's weird. Oh, you're probably going to laugh at me, but...Blavatsky came back. I found him asleep in the entrance of a parking garage. He's so beat-up, but...it's most definitely him. I'd know him anywhere." He was almost in tears. Kyoko's eyes widened. "I just feel so horrible about leaving him behind...he's an innocent, you know? And the motorcycles...yeah it'd have been a challenge. When I found that van for you girls my first thought was 'I really wish Blavatsky would come back so we could drive him around too',"

"Are you sure? It could be any dog,"

"But it's not, Kirigiri-chi! Sure, he's lost an eye and has some really bad scrapes, but who doesn't at this point? He's got that reddish colour and that distinct blue collar...it's him. He came back to me. It's like fate, dude! Fate!"

"And how do you think he followed you all this way?" Kyoko challenged, amused.

"Well...hey, we all came here because of those dreams, right? So what if he did too? What if he had dreams about this place and followed us here?" Yasuhiro suggested.

"Do dogs dream?"

"Met a guy on my travels once before the world ended who said they could. You can tell because if it's a good dream, their paws twitch, and if it's a bad dream, they growl. That's what he said, dude!"

"Maybe they do, but it'd be about simple things. Things they can process and understand," Kyoko shot back.

"Do we dream about anything we can understand? Or are many of our own dreams cryptic and filled with mysterious meanings we're never supposed to figure out?" He asked.

Kyoko angrily slammed her coffee down and stared at him.

"Want to go take a look at him? Kimura-chi is trying to help patch him up. She was overjoyed at the thought of caring for a dog,"

"Sure."

* * *

Blavatsky was laying outside on the porch of the community's makeshift clinic; an actual clinic without much of the necessary staff or equipment. Upon sensing them, he looked up, and Kyoko hesitantly reached out a hand, letting him sniff her.

"I'll have to show Naegi-chi later, he'd love this. He used to have a dog himself as a kid," Yasuhiro added from behind her.

"Yes, he said the same to me," Kyoko said, bending down slightly to pat the retriever's head. His tail thumped eagerly on the ground, happy at receiving attention again. She started to run her hand along his body, feeling deep cuts that were patched-up under his belly. "I wonder what got him...did she say? Was it a wolf-pack?"

"I think it was just another dog," Yasuhiro suggested. Kyoko motioned for Blavatsky to roll over and ran her hand along the cuts again, pointing them out to Yasuhiro.

"A dog would go for the muzzle or throat. No dog would try to attack the innards." She explained in a serious tone. "Still, I wonder why a group of wolves ganged up on him like that. Surely there are much better things in the wilderness to hunt now,"

"Guess we'll never know. Why did the disease take almost all of the dogs and pigs but left the other animals behind and take almost all of the humans but leave us behind? Isn't that a mystery to ponder," He got a thoughtful expression on his features. "Ah well. Least I don't ever have to worry about dog food being sold out,"

"Indeed," Kyoko stood up and brushed her hand off on her tan slacks, watching Blavatsky eyeing her happily. "Not to mention, he is still intact. It would do our community good if we kept our eyes out for a female of the same breed," She caught Yasuhuro staring at her and stared right back. "What? We are so focused on repopulation for ourselves, forgetting others took a hit as well. Even the score,"

"Whatever you say," He sighed wearily. "Let's leave him here for now, Kimura-chi might come back later and do another examination. And I'm sure you got a coffee at home that's getting cold,"

The two of them walked off together while Blavatsky started to close his eyes.

* * *

To anyone who walked past him, he'd look asleep, but he wasn't; he was merely in the same place all others with severe injuries went when they weren't quite dead. He had a bad burn in his belly and thus was content to remain in that place for some time more. Sometimes he still thought of himself as 'Takoyaki', the name his original owners had given him as they were Americans and found the name funny despite not really understanding it. Wolves did indeed come after him, different wolves, wolves with a bad scent and piercing blue eyes and the aura of her. The bad girl. That very bad girl. The wolves put up a good fight with him, driving him under the porch of Lady Nanami's old home and scratching his belly up deeply. He fought back though, snapping and biting and tearing. He got the leader's eye in one gnash but instantly repaid the price.

Once the wolves left, Blavatsky slept under the porch for several days, eventually being driven out by hunger and thirst. He drank from the tiny well and munched on the remaining rice paddies; also finding lots of cooked rice and fish leftover in the house from when Chiaki cooked for Chihiro's group. He wanted to stay there forever, but there was a feeling in him that told him to keep going.

Not a scent for once, just a feeling. He had to keep going, to keep heading northward, then to the west. And so he did, limping along on three legs with his wounds bleeding heavily. He never felt the presence that those wolves had, and he was grateful. And once he arrived at the place he was supposed to, he felt immense joy. He recognized the scent of his man, that man who took care of him, and the scent of food as well. Limping along still, he collapsed into a garage and fell asleep.

He slept then as well, having a good dream. He was Takoyaki again, and the grass was freshly-cut and bright green and juicy; unlike the dead and dry brown blades present now. There was pizza too; the leftovers of a greasy crust. There were lots of rabbits as well, rabbits and deer to chase after that his owners always happily encouraged. And so he would run out into that big green field and spot a barely-hidden brown rabbit and start chasing after it, barking happily.

His paws were twitching in the real world.


	16. Sayaka 2: Kickball and Washing

**Sayaka 2: Kickball and Washing**

**Hiroshima; August 15th, 1994**

**######**

Despite everything that had happened, or maybe because of it, Makoto decided that the council should take a break and pick a random day to bond with each other to grow closer together. Kaito suggested a kickball game, and Makoto suggested they have a picnic afterwards, and everyone agreed. Leon then suggested they bring along their significant others who weren't involved in the council just so they'd have enough people, and the council reluctantly agreed on the grounds it would be just them and the game wouldn't turn into a community event. It _was_ specifically just for the council, after all.

After agreeing on a place; the giant field surrounding the amphitheater, and a date of the fifteenth, the council all eagerly headed up to the hill, Kaito and his housemates being the first to arrive alongside Makoto and Sayaka. They were all wearing makeshift uniforms made from T-shirts or tank tops with tiny shorts and matching sneakers. The girls had their hair up.

"Okie-dokie! I think we should start setting up the area. I brought some cones for us to use, they can mark the bases," Kaito held out the orange cones.

"Please never say 'okie-dokie' ever again," Maki rolled her eyes.

"Setting them up sounds like a great idea!" Makoto nodded, and Kaito hurried off to go do that. He made sure each one was the same distance away from each other.

The last two to arrive were Leon and Kaede; the self-proclaimed 'Warriors of Hope' trailing after them.

"I thought they'd be great scorekeepers!" Kaede explained happily, ushering the children onto a nearby picnic table.

"Who's going to be on whose team?" Aoi asked curiously, looking around at everyone.

"Split it up four ways?" Makoto suggested. "Four people to start...you, Kaito-san, Harukawa-san, and...Leon-san,"

Those four nodded and took their place beside home plate.

"Sayaka-chan, first base. Hifumi-san, second base. Aiko-chan, third base. Yasuhiro-san and Kaede-chan and I will be out on the outfield," Makoto said as those four started to take their place. Chihiro stared at Makoto, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Oh! You can be the person who rolls the ball to everyone,"

_As long as nobody purposefully kicks it at me to be funny..._ Chihiro wrote out before he grabbed the red rubber ball and tossed it in his hands a bit before he took his own position.

"Oh! What should the winners get?" Aoi asked eagerly.

"I never thought that far ahead..." Makoto admitted, laughing awkwardly.

"It's okay. You'll think of something later," Sayaka reassured him, and with a simple hand gesture, the game begun.

Maki was the first one up to base and gently hit the ball against her foot, dashing down the field and landing on first base before anyone could catch it. Chihiro stared after her in disbelief, blinking.

"That's my girl!" Kaito cheered. Maki rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, I'm next!" Aoi cheered eagerly, running straight towards the ball when it was rolled and kicking it hard, making it sail over practically everyone's heads. She giggled awkwardly and took off running, clearing all the bases. Maki had already made it back to Home and neither girl even broke a sweat. Kaede gasped as the ball sailed towards her and rushed after it, jumping up and grabbing it.

"Yeah!" She gasped, rolling it back over to Chihiro.

Aiko pouted a bit. "Can we switch?"

"We literally just started!" Sayaka gasped.

"I dunno...just standing here is tiring," Hifumi sighed. "I thought I had more stamina than this..."

Chihiro stifled his giggles and rolled the ball over to Kaito, who accidentally kicked it right at his face.

"Oh no!" Kaede gasped. Sayaka covered her mouth in shock. Chihiro hit the ground, groaning in pain as the ball rolled harmlessly away.

Aoi raced over to him, carefully helping him up. "Are you alright? You don't have a concussion or anything, right?" She asked slowly once he was looking at her. He shook his head.

_Thank goodness some of my teeth had already been knocked-out long before..otherwise you would've taken them,_ He showed to Kaito when he picked the ball back up.

"Oh, right. Forgot about that," Kaito laughed awkwardly.

Chihiro gingerly rubbed at his lips, getting back on his knees.

"He didn't give you a black eye, did he?" Sayaka asked in concern.

"Now this game is getting interesting!" Masaru laughed from his position on the bench, making the other children snicker.

"It's not nice to laugh at people's pain," Maki scolded them.

"Sorry, Big Sister Maki..." Kotoko mumbled a bit.

The game continued; when it was time to switch, Aoi, Maki, Leon, and Kaito had collectively scored the most points for their team; 10 since they were using doubles.

"I'm still curious about what the winner should get!" Aoi teased Makoto as she walked past him. "Don't leave us hanging!"

"You get a prize from the gachapon machine," Sayaka teased. "Only 100 yen!"

"Oh, I love gachapon! This restaurant I used to visit with my parents had one inside and they had Hello Kitty stuff inside!" Aiko chimed in, her eyes sparkling. "I couldn't get the limited edition of her in the polka-dot dress though..."

"It would be on my honor as a gentleman to personally find you one of those then!" Hifumi placed his hands on his hips. "Even if I must spend every single ounce of my own money!"

"Even I'm familiar with those. My grandparents let me splurge and try them out every year on my birthday," Kaito smiled wistfully.

"I always couldn't wait for my daughter Hana-chan to grow up so I could teach her to use one," Kaede added.

_They were one of the few things that brought me joy while I was traveling as a teenager. If I had anything left from working and meals, I'd try my luck. I didn't really keep anything I won though, instead giving them to any children I came across. Especially any orphans or foster children like myself._ Chihiro wrote down, passing the note around to everyone before he closed up his notebook.

"Is there a gachapon machine anywhere around here though?" Leon asked. "I don't recall ever seeing one."

"Yes! There's one in the bank, believe it or not!" Sayaka exclaimed happily. "I saw it the other day when I was helping Kirigiri-san search for something."

"It's a strange place to have one though, right?" Aoi asked curiously, blinking.

"What did they have inside?" Aiko bounced up and down in excitement.

"Oh, I didn't look," Sayaka admitted in embarrassment. "But we can all go look together after this game!"

"Big Sister Sayaka? Could we please have something from the machine?" Kotoko asked nicely, and Sayaka nodded. "Yay! I want to get a princess doll!"

"I want to get Sailor Moon's wand!" Aiko posed.

With that, everyone was back in position again and the game restarted. That team was noticeably less athletic in comparison to the one who went before them, a fact multiple people pointed out to Makoto in amusement. Kaede ended up being the one who scored the most for her team and when it was time to switch again, they had six points.

By the end of the afternoon, Kaito's team had ended up winning with twenty points. Much to everyone's surprise, Sayaka's team placed second with twelve, and Makoto's team came in third with only eight points.

"Before we go to the bank to use the gachapon machines, I was thinking, that maybe...we could have a break for lunch? Sayaka-chan and I stayed up late last night, trying our best to make bento for everyone," Makoto trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Are they tailored to our tastes?" Maki asked curiously.

"We tried,"

Everyone took a seat at the picnic tables, pushing two of them together so they could all sit together and remain with their significant other. Sayaka carefully unwrapped the pile of red bento and started passing them out while Maki laid out a clean yellow blanket on the grass for the kids, giving them their own customized bento as well. Afterwards, everyone took their seat at the picnic tables and opened up their bento slowly, wanting to see what they had.

"I know a lot of what I put in there seems a bit...odd, but we're not really the most normal of people, are we?" Sayaka blushed lightly. "I still hope it's to your liking. I put a lot of normal things in there too," Her own was a simple side salad with an umeboshi on top of rice. Makoto just had an umeboshi and rice dish.

"Wow, they look really good! I can't even imagine how long it took you to make these!" Aoi beamed in appreciation. Hers had a side salad and grilled salmon with a small homemade doughnut. She went for that first, the powdered sugar coating her lips and fingers.

"A_ very_ long time," Makoto smiled awkwardly.

"I can't remember the last time I got to sit down and just eat with my friends, relaxing," Kaito begun, his chopsticks hovering over his beef noodles. "Sure, we all ate with Miss Chiaki, but that seemed to be more of a formality, you know. And I enjoyed that, don't get me wrong. I guess I just never realized how much I enjoyed being surrounded by good-spirited people,"

"You can turn any moment into a huge, emotional speech," Maki sighed, eating her chicken noodles. She also had a side of tsukemono.

"That's just the kind of person I am, Harumaki!" He jokingly pulled her closer to him, making her tense up slightly.

"Awww, these are so cute!" Aiko cooed over her panda-shaped riceballs. "Look, Master Hifumi! They're pandas!"

"They certainly are, Aiko-chan!" He nodded in agreement, mulling over his that were shaped like the moon and stars. "She really nailed your aesthetics!"

"They're almost too cute to eat..." She drooled a bit, staring at them.

Chihiro swigged from his cup of green tea and went back to eating; his meal being ramen with leeks and a fried egg on top. He managed to catch the egg in his chopsticks and slurped it up loudly.

"Don't eat so fast there, Fujisaki-chi! What if your stomach gets upset?!" Yasuhiro scolded him, having a meal of grilled pork and rice with a small salad.

Chihiro swallowed and wrote: _It's just an egg. It's not like I'm scarfing down sweet potatoes or something,_

"Fried eggs can ruin your digestive system though! Knew a guy once who said it happened to him. All of his bowel movements from then on were super runny and he always had the sweats! You don't want that to happen to you too, right dude?!"

"Ewww, not when we're eating!" Aoi protested.

Kaede laughed a bit. Her meal was identical to Leon's; sweet-potato fries with elaborately-decorated hot-dogs without buns. They also had beers.

"You're enjoying the company, aren't you?" Leon assumed, and Kaede nodded.

"I love seeing everyone get along with each other,"

"That's why I'm really happy everyone was able to make it to this. I was afraid a few of you would decline..." Makoto admitted softly, looking down at his food.

"Heck no! We'd never decline an offer from a friend!" Kaito announced. "And that's what we're all now, friends. We all came from entirely different walks of life, and I don't know what brought us together-"

"The spirits," Yasuhiro stated.

"God," Kaede mumbled.

"Faith?" Sayaka offered.

_A lucky set of coincidences,_ Chihiro tapped his pencil against his paper.

"-But regardless, it did what it was supposed to, and now we're together. We should toast or something!" Kaito finally finished.

"You don't have to make it sound like you're dying," Maki scolded.

Leon took a sudden chill as he recalled the note Chihiro gave to him, and Sayaka stared at him. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, fantastic. The ketchup hit me weirdly," He brushed it off, running a hand through his hair. "Nothing you gotta worry about."

"We can't toast, but..." Kaede trailed off a bit and gently kissed Leon, giggling. Sayaka blushed a bit and followed her example, pulling Makoto close to her. Kaito swept Maki off her feet, kissing her deeply in a way that made her eyes widen and the rest of the table chuckle and cheer. Aoi pulled Chihiro closer to her, keeping her hands on his back as they kissed. Aiko and Hifumi looked at each other and scooted further away, Aiko's cheeks pink.

The children giggled a bit, watching them. Maki stood up from her meal, having finished, and walked over to them.

"It's also rude to watch people in their private moments," She scolded.

"How could it be private if you were kissing in public?" Monaca piped up, closing the book her and Nagisa were reading. She then stood up and brushed the dirt off her dress.

"It looks like almost everyone is finished eating here, so we can go check out the bank's gachapon machine!" Sayaka nodded, starting to pack up the empty boxes.

"You'll still let me get something, right?" Kotoko asked shyly, and Kaede smiled.

"I don't see why not!" She reassured her, and the little girl cheered and ran ahead of the others.

Most of the group remained together even as they walked down to the bank, Aiko happily pulling on Hifumi's arm and trying to get him to look at all the dress stores they passed by. Chihiro hung back near the end with Kaito and Maki; Aoi was with Sayaka and Makoto.

"That food was surprisingly good though, huh? Not as good as Miss Chiaki's, but that's to be expected. She's spent her whole entire life cooking, probably," Kaito addressed them. "I think that just goes to show you good food can always be made no matter what,"

Maki ran her hand through her hair, not responding. Chihiro slipped his hands into his pockets and burped loudly.

"Yeah, that's the ticket! It shows how satisfied you were!" Leon cheered.

"That's gross! Don't encourage him!" Aoi immediately scolded. Chihiro looked away, burping again.

"It's from the fried egg! I warned you, dude!" Yasuhiro spoke up.

_I think I have heartburn,_ Chihiro admitted, blushing. He stifled another burp.

"The bank!" Aiko announced happily, running ahead of everyone else up the steps and throwing open the doors. Sayaka smiled a bit.

The machine was tucked into a corner of the lobby, behind some chairs, and was painted a pastel blue. Maki walked over to it first and assessed it carefully.

"I wonder what's in it?" Sayaka asked.

"It's not broken, which means the machine is likely still at least somewhat full. Nobody stole from it and even though nobody could refill it, nobody was able to use it for several months. So we should be able to use it fine as long as we have money," Maki finally announced. Despite being on the winning team, she made no further movements, so Kaito eventually went first, pulling out his money and feeding the coins into the machine before turning the crank.

Out slipped a tiny plastic capsule topped with a purple lid that contained a keychain of a bunny girl. He laughed a bit. "It's neat, but I also don't really think it's my thing,"

"I'll take that! It's probably some sort of limited edition thing...you know?" Hifumi announced. "Better off in my hands than yours anyway!"

"Hey, take it," Kaito tossed it to him.

Aoi got a pair of white lacy kid gloves, and Leon got a kitty-shaped barrette he immediately gave to Kaede. Maki went several times, getting mood-rings for each of the kids, who marveled and gasped over the different colours their plastic rings glowed.

"Today was productive," Sayaka smiled as she watched everyone start to disperse after the long day. She leaned her head on Makoto's shoulder.

He nodded. "Yeah...do you think everyone grew closer?"

"Hmm...I'm not sure. It seems like they did," She smiled up at him. "I just like to watch them all sometimes. It's truly amazing...Kaito-san's right, we came from all different backgrounds and personalities and even our accents are different...but we all managed to make it work,"

He held her close. "That's what hope does to people,"

The next day, Sayaka woke up with the sun and made breakfast, leaving the leftovers out for Makoto. She didn't want to wake him up again. She got dressed in her favourite frilly black housedress with the off-shoulder sleeves and purple flower print, cinched her waist with a belt, tied her hair back with a matching bow, then grabbed the washboard. She dragged an empty washing tub out into the middle of the road in the center of town, then filled it up with solution, stirring the mix carefully with a large spoon. The washboard was by her side, as was a large pile of clothing.

Today was the day her and a few other girls in the community decided on being their 'wash day', getting a giant haul of dirty clothes from their houses and doing them all together, all at once. Sayaka was the one who proposed it and the others thought it was a good idea for unwinding and went along with it.

As she finished stirring up a large lather, the remainder of the other girls arrived; Aoi, Maki, Kyoko, Aiko, and Kaede, each with their own buckets and washboards and clothing bags.

"Where's Ikusaba-san?" Sayaka asked curiously as Kaede finished stirring up her own lather.

"I couldn't seem to find her anywhere," She shrugged, though her voice showed how disappointed she was. She wore her hair loose for once with red sneakers, tiny jean shorts, and a black see-through crop top with lace flower appliqués.

"I don't think that's a bad thing...she just wants alone time," Aoi blushed slightly, wearing a blue scrunchie in her high ponytail with baggy overalls and a white blouse.

Maki was silent, wearing her usual grey checkered shirt; tied around her waist to reveal a black tank top and sneakers with high-waisted jeans. Her hair was up in a ponytail tied by a purple scrunchie.

Aiko pouted as she tried her hardest to scrub a T-shirt using a sponge and the washboard, concentrating fully. She wore a long cream dress with a purple flower print over a white turtleneck similar to Sayaka with her chestnut hair in pigtails.

"Don't be so rough on it!" Sayaka scolded. "I've learned the best way to go about this is to be gentle and slow,"

Kyoko was instead mending a jacket of Yasuhiro's, looking at something in the distance instead of at the other girls. She had her hair worn loose with a grey sweater and kneesocks, black saddle shoes, and a matching pleated skirt.

The girls silenced themselves as well, working hard at the task at hand with the utmost concentration. For a while, nobody had spoke until Aoi suddenly let out a large yawn.

"Are you not getting enough sleep?" Kyoko immediately asked.

"Kinda? I mean, I _do_ sleep, but..." Aoi trailed off.

"It's hard to sleep at night now, I'll admit. Those two make a lot of racket. Some nights I find it hard to believe he's a mute," Maki announced, holding up a purple jacket to the light to see if it was clean enough yet.

Aoi giggled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

"Oh, are you trying to have a baby too?" Sayaka asked eagerly.

"Actually, not really," Aoi admitted. "Harukawa-san, on the other hand...if you want to talk about loud, it always sounds like he's throwing her into the walls!"

Maki looked away at that, huffing. "We're just doing some late-night training. Nothing wrong with that,"

Sayaka giggled and finished scrubbing the pair of jeans she had in her hands. "I just realized, we have no place to let these dry at,"

"We could just leave them out in the sun," Kyoko suggested, and the other girls nodded in agreement.

"And come get them after lunch, when they'll likely be dry! That's a great idea!" Kaede exclaimed.

And so the girls returned to their work, cleaning and mending their clothes. Once they returned to the dry pieces, they immediately scooped them back up and surprised their housemates with them.

All was well.


	17. Makoto 7: Official Town Meeting

**Makoto 7: Official Town Meeting**

**Hiroshima; August 17th, 1994**

**#####**

Before their first official meeting that next night, the council held a quick meeting in Leon's house when the rest of his housemates were away to go over what they wanted to do and make sure they were all on the same page. Everyone was present; announced by all the pairs of shoes neatly lined up beside the door.

"I think the first thing we should talk about is how to make sure the voting will be fair. Originally, Makoto-kun and I wanted Lady Nanami to endorse everyone to prevent someone from getting twenty fake votes from their friends or something...but that's no longer an option," Sayaka sighed a bit. "So I think instead, we should all get one person to vote for us and a second to back us up. Nobody on this council can vote for someone else on the council,"

"I think we should talk about the spies on the nineteenth. Because...we're starting to become a big city! Don't you guys know what happens with a large amount of a voting population?! Somebody might get voted out!" Yasuhiro cried.

Everyone winced at that and it was an unanimous vote; 8-0, about meeting again on the nineteenth.

"I also think we should make some sort of committee to go out and search for Lady Nanami," Makoto proposed. "I know she said she'll come back soon and obviously will not come back on her own until she's ready, but if she's injured in a hole somewhere that's a different matter. We don't have much organization and thus I think a permanent group to go out for her and search would be good. And I nominate Hifumi-san to be the head of that group since looking for her in the first place was his idea,"

"Really? Me?" Hifumi asked in disbelief, blushing a bit. "Well, I'm quite flattered. I guess my genius is finally showing to you too, Sir Makoto!"

"I'm not sure how helpful a search party would be...she's a blind girl. How hard would she have it out there?" Aoi pouted a bit.

"It's worth a try!" Kaito tried to encourage her.

"I also think we should try to establish some sort of group to go down to that power plant and do actual work on it!" Yasuhiro announced.

"Um, about that..." Makoto looked away. "I don't think we should keep messing around with that place anymore. We don't have the training or supplies to properly deal with nuclear energy. What happens if there's a meltdown? It's too risky. Sorry, Fujisaki-san, go tell the other two they're off the project too,"

Chihiro's mouth opened in shock and he uncapped his pen.

"So are you just suggesting we give up on trying to restore energy? Sorry, but we kinda need it to live. What about food and stuff?" Leon asked.

"It's not like nuclear power is the only way to get power, right? We just need to think of another source!" Aoi suggested.

"How about the sun? It's easy to build and install, plus the sun is always around!" Kaito suggested eagerly.

"Yeah, that could work!" Sayaka smiled.

"We can talk about it more tomorrow night," Kaito looked over as he read Chihiro's note. "Speaking of which, is that it?"

"Yes. All in favour of adjourning?" Makoto looked around.

The vote was unanimous; 8-0.

Before they could leave, however, Kyoko showed up with a camera on a tripod, making Makoto laugh a bit.

"I wanted to remember the council in a good way, so I thought we could all take a picture together," He explained.

"That's a great idea!" Aoi exclaimed.

Kyoko set the camera up and waited for everyone to get into position. It was intended to be a formal photo but most of them struck funny poses. Makoto and Sayaka were positioned in the front, holding each other. Leon and Aoi were on either side of them; Leon grinning with his hand behind his head and Aoi jokingly flexing a bit. Chihiro just smiled a warm smile with his hands clasped together. Yasuhiro crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave a wide grin, while Hifumi stood off to the side a bit awkwardly, a proud smile on his face. Kaito stood in the back with his fists pressed together, looking triumphant. Kyoko snapped the picture of them together.

It was developed a few days later by Miaya, and Makoto promptly hung it up in his room right next to his old family picture.

Written on the bottom was the simple caption: 'Hope '94'.

* * *

For the first time since he had arrived, Leon had become aware of just how many people had settled in Hiroshima. Walking around the town normally, one would just see people in pairs or by themselves going about their day, but that night, there had to have been at least six-hundred crowded into the main hall of the Buddhist temple. He was suddenly very glad the walls were paper-thin and easily-movable to make space for everyone.

The crowd in question whispered curiously amongst each other, kneeling in front of the makeshift podium in groups. Their voices bounced and echoed off the empty walls. Everyone in town dressed their best in either formal Western clothes or kimono; due to the humidity many were clad in just yukata with nice jewelry and hairstyles, but a few were decked out in a full ensemble. The rain hammered heavily on the roof and Leon felt it would continue to do so for several more hours.

In his hand was a pamphlet of what the council planned to get done that night; organize a power group, a burial committee, a search committee, deciding if Lady Nanami got full veto power in their decisions, electing eight members to serve on the council, and a reading and ratifying of their Constitution.

This was for real, then, wasn't it? Leon wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was way more fun to sit around in other people's houses and constantly talk the day away, eating Sayaka's sweets and making merry. But here, he could genuinely be nominated to sit on the council. And then what? All of those people would be counting on him, like Kanon counted on him once to take her out of the city and introduce her to other survivors, but he couldn't, he just couldn't, and nobody else there even knew about that except for him. Only he knew that the first person he tried to take care of after the pandemic died from the friggin' disease herself.

"It'll be alright," Kaede whispered to him in a reassuring tone. She gently placed her hand on his and he only then realized he was in the middle of crumpling the paper up for the fifth or sixth time. "You'll be perfectly fine, I know you will!" She then gave a smile to Nagisa. "Won't he be?"

"Yeah. Sure. He'll be fine," Nagisa responded in disinterest. The two were seated on either side of Leon. Earlier he tried to invite Mukuro as well, but she was nowhere to be seen and Nagisa just shrugged and went back to reading when asked about her whereabouts.

"See? Even he agrees!" Kaede wore a sunny yellow kimono with short sleeves patterned with violets; a purple and blue obi tied around her waist with matching violets tied up in her bun. Nagisa wore a simple yellow yukata and sneakers, while Leon was dressed in a dark grey kimono with striped hakama and a matching dark haori. Damn, all he needed was a sword and he'd look like someone out of a historical drama. He awkwardly adjusted the fabric around his neck.

She squeezed his hand tighter and he flinched. Not from the pain, but because she was genuinely looking up to him and trusting him, unknowingly knowing he could make some kind of horrible, deadly mistake. He might've done just that with Koichi Kizakura and he was the man seconding his nomination! Everything was going to turn out horribly.

"I'm fine," He finally answered once seeing barely-masked worry in Kaede's violet eyes.

Makoto wandered out onto the podium then; the microphone and lights around being powered by an emergency generator. His dark blue kimono looked almost black under their harsh glare, and on the back of his haori was the emblem of what Leon assumed to be his old high-school.

The moment he stepped out onto the stage, everyone begun to erupt in cheerful, thunderous applause that rung out in the room and showed no sign of letting up soon. It was practically unheard of for so many people to clap so enthusiastically at such a formal event, but courtesy be damned for once he supposed. Even Kaede was clapping beside him, politely and quietly with tears in her eyes. Nagisa nodded along with the crowd.

"Hey everyone-" Makoto tried to speak, but the applause just continued. Leon looked down at his aching hands and saw they hurt because he was clapping just as frantically as everyone else.

Soon, though, the clapping did eventually die down, the only sounds replacing it were a few sobs and people adjusting their positions. Makoto smiled and bowed formally.

"Thank you very much! And I am very happy to see you all here tonight, ladies and gentlemen. I'm happy to be here myself," He accidentally bumped up against the podium too hard, making the microphone whine. "Whoops, sorry. I'm not used to this stuff yet," He tried to mumble, but the audience chuckled a bit as the microphone picked it up anyway. He blushed. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Naegi Makoto and I'm originally from Yokohama; a small community there, but you guys likely already figured that out by my accent. I hope you all will take care of me," He bowed again. "The last time I had to make a speech like this, it was at my middle school's graduation ceremony,"

"Honestly, I think he's a natural!" Kaede smiled and whispered to Leon, who just nodded. He certainly wore that stuffy kimono better than he currently was. He subtly tugged at the collar again.

"First I want to introduce the members of our preliminary committee and introduce you all to its members. I hope you all saved some cheers for them too, because they all deserve it for pitching in and thinking up the agenda for tonight. Eight of us all got together and planned this out, so welcome us all here tonight," Makoto briefly scanned the crowd and saw each of the other seven members of the council, waiting eagerly to be introduced. "We call ourselves Hope's Peak Ministers. First off, um, I'd like to introduce you all to Maizono Sayaka-san, originally from Nagoya right on the coast. Please stand up, Sayaka-chan, and show them what that kimono of yours looks like!"

Sayaka was seated near the front and bowed graciously at the crowd, wearing her pretty handmade pink kimono. Her hair was up in a loose bun and her earrings had a crane motif. The audience applauded nicely for her, and there were also a few good-natured wolf-whistles. She quickly took her seat again, blushing madly.

Before the applause could entirely die down again, Makoto continued.

"Hagakure Yasuhiro-san, originally from Aomori," He motioned near the middle, and Yasuhiro proudly stood up and bowed quickly, wearing an earthy green and brown kimono without the haori. The audience clapped loudly.

"Momota Kaito-san, originally from Sendai," He stood up, wearing a very neatly-pressed purple and grey kimono with a loosened top and his haori draped around his shoulders. He bowed and the audience clapped nicely.

"Asahina Aoi-san, originally from Fukushima," Aoi stood up next in a red and pink kimono with floor-long sleeves, an aqua ribbon in her ponytail that trailed down her neck. Her kimono was patterned with sun-rays and flowers. She bowed politely and got lots of applause as well as a few wolf-whistles too.

"Yamada Hifumi-san, also from the same neighborhood as Sayaka-chan!"

Unlike the other guys, Hifumi was wearing a pressed black tuxedo with a simple white tie. He bowed a bit awkwardly but still smiled, and he received a healthy round of applause.

"Kuwata Leon-san, originally from Shinjuku!"

So he would be second-to-last. He stood up anyway and waved instead of giving a bow, hearing a huge roar of applause for himself as well. Kaede was one of the louder ones. Somewhere, sometime, in another life maybe, he'd be receiving this sort of reaction after a show-stopping concert in a packed hall, likely after playing Your Man Just Ain't Good for Ya. This was better, somehow.

"And last, but certainly not least, Fujisaki Chihiro-san, originally from Nagasaki!" Makoto motioned to Chihiro, who stood up awkwardly and bowed, wearing a grey and blue kimono set with a haori and his hair brushed back neatly. He received the longest and loudest applause and Leon felt a bit bad that he couldn't even hear it.

Once he sat down again, Makoto awkwardly cleared his throat again to get everyone's attention. "I know that this isn't on the agenda, but...I thought that before we officially began, we could sing our unofficial anthem. You know what I mean. It's not our official national anthem...but you all know the words."

Everyone immediately rose to their feet and stood stiffly with their arms by their sides, looking around to see who would start it.

"May Japan continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,  
Until the tiny pebbles  
Grow into massive boulders  
Lush with moss!" Sayaka sung out sweetly, having the voice of an idol. Maybe she would've been one if the world was still intact. She started it, but the remainder of the crowd finished it, looking up high ahead with stern expressions on their faces. Due to the song's shortness, they sung it a total of three times.

"May Japan continue for a thousand-" Kaede was subtly holding his hand during it, crying again, and Leon was suddenly reminded of a baseball game he attended with Kanon a year ago and the song was sung before the game started. She had no lip piercing or hair dye that day; but she leaned against him and grabbed his arm with that same fierceness that marked her as his cousin.

Once the song was over, Leon found himself to be crying a bit too, though he was far from the only one in the room to be doing so. He realized they were all crying over their lost hopes and dreams, and he couldn't say he blamed them. Kanon was gone. Lisa Kuwata was gone. Shinjuku was gone. _All_ of Japan was gone, and even if they did manage to defeat Junko Enoshima, what difference would it make? Anything they made wouldn't ever compare to what had come before it.

* * *

After they all sung the unofficial anthem, Makoto calmed everyone down enough again to read to them the Constitution of Japan; or more of, briefly outline what was stated in it and confirm that Hope's Peak Ministers would follow it accordingly. The next item on the agenda was to see who would still serve on the council, but the citizens all quickly agreed on a vote that the current preliminary members should also be the official members, and none of the council argued against that.

Kizakura offered the thought that the reason why the town was so abandoned was due to a rumor that the fever came from the town's own clinic, according to local papers. Whether that was true or not the citizens evidently never stuck around to find out and fled, all of them just citing that they had a 'bad feeling'.

The rest of the time was spent discussing the dreams they all had prior and the effect Chiaki had on all of them as a whole community. Her kindness, her firmness, her traditional nature, and how she always seemed to know just the right thing to say and when to say it, and also when to hold her tongue, much like a true Buddhist. Even Kaito stood up and talked at length for nearly five minutes about how he had never known a girl to be quite as sweet as her and how she was practically like the little sister he never had. The amount of sobbing people in the room afterwards seemed to just prove his point.

Makoto found the tension in the room to be similar to a wake and felt uncomfortable. Chiaki's absence proved that the community could get along just fine without her and even though she would be welcomed back and treated well if she returned, they didn't need her to function. The mystical allure of her was fading; their dreams seemingly had no more power over them anymore.

Once the meeting was wrapping up, Makoto stepped to the podium once more and cleared his throat. "I know this is likely a bit unorthodox. Before we all head home for the night, I'd like to suggest that each one of you take some time to light a lantern and set it afloat in the river behind here. It's Obon tonight and we have had so much struggle and turmoil in our lives..shouldn't we give our relatives the same comfort?"

Everyone nodded in agreement at that, an uncomfortable silence descending upon the room.

"Just light a lantern for everyone you have lost," He added.

"There ain't enough fucking candles for that!" Leon called.

"I think he has the right idea," Kaede gently tugged on Leon's arm amid the awkward laughter. Everyone was handed a lantern and Makoto led them all outside, being the first one to light his lantern up and set it afloat.

"For my parents and sister," He whispered, also silently adding all of the people they came across on their journey who were no longer with them.

"My parents and aunt and uncle. And Kanon-chan too," Leon dropped his into the river and watched it float off merrily. He owed that to her. Maybe then Kanon could finally stop tormenting every waking thought of his.

"My husband and daughter," Kaede gently set hers down in the river beside his. He briefly found himself wondering if Mukuro would've lit one for her parents had she been there.

"My grandparents," Kaito placed his next to Aoi's, who stated it was for her parents and younger brother.

"My mother," Yasuhiro went up next.

"My parents and older sister," Hifumi's lantern nearly toppled the moment it was set into the water before getting its balance back and floating just behind the others.

Sayaka was one of the next ones up, but found herself clutching at her dark lantern nervously. Who did she light it for? Her sister and mother died long ago, long before the disease, and her father had been a prick. Certainly not Shuichi either. Who?

Finally, she took the candle handed to her and lit up the bottom, handing it off to the next person before she gently placed the glowing lantern into the water and watching it float off rapidly.

"Byakuya-san and Touko-san," They didn't deserve to die; and despite them not dying from the pandemic, she still thought they deserved a mention since their deaths never would've happened if the apocalypse hadn't happened. She took a few steps back.

Chihiro lit his own up and held it away from his face, trying to stay away from the river banks. Once he got as close as he'd attempt, he slid it into the water and backed away, going into the crowd again.

_For Gonta-san's mother. I never knew her, but if I had, she likely would've treated me like her own son,_ He thought silently.

Everyone was quiet as they watched the lanterns travel down the river, soon fading from view but still lighting up the night. It felt like they would be able to see them for miles and miles. There were no tears that time around; all of those had been cried at the meeting earlier. The rain started up again and pattered gently in the river and onto the crowd, and they all reluctantly started to head for home, feeling a strange mix of homesickness, hope, and dread.

"Sayaka-sama! Sayaka-sama!" Hifumi gasped as Sayaka suddenly turned around, about to head for her bike.

"Hm?" She blinked, wanting to know what Hifumi wanted with her.

"I wanted to say something to you, but I thought now was the most perfect time. I found this on the sidewalk near the gas station," He held up his hand and Sayaka gasped, taking the red earring from him.

"Oh, Hifumi-san! Thank you for finding it for me! I was really worried that it was gone for good! Then I'd just be stuck with one missing pair!" She smiled a bit, clutching it close to her body.

He smiled proudly. "And we can't have that, can we? Only the finest for my lady!"

She frowned a bit. "It's weird how it was near the gas station though...I've never gone anywhere near there at all,"

"All good things must come to an end," He shrugged and walked along, leaving Sayaka to stare after him a bit darkly.

* * *

Sayaka and Makoto walked their bikes back to their house, going slow that day, letting the warm summer air flow around them. Sayaka seemed more forlorn and listless, and Makoto kept giving her concerned glances.

Finally, she sighed. "I was just thinking...hearing our unofficial anthem sung in there earlier...it made me realize how much I miss everything that made us...us. Those big coasters in Ikebukuro, those little coloured dangos on a stick. Only a few hundred people sung the anthem in there, Makoto-kun...it should've been far more," Makoto thought he saw tears in her eyes. "In my diary, I kept a small note of everything I wanted the baby to remember, but it's more like..things they should forget. Because none of that stuff is ever coming back again!" She suddenly dropped her bike and burst into tears, and Makoto held her close within a second.

"It's alright,"

"I'm mourning for an entire nation, Makoto-kun! All of these little things pass by in my mind that I didn't even care about at the time..." She sobbed more when she felt his hand on her back.

"I'm sure every single person in that room felt that way tonight. And all the time. Losing everything that makes you you...it's not easy," He finally let go off her, sensing her sniffling. She nodded and gently picked her bike back up.

"I'm alright now...let's keep going." After a few more minutes, she looked over at him. "What's something you remember vividly?"

Makoto blushed. "I can't tell you...you might think it's crazy,"

"I won't," She promised, knowing he'd tell her anyway.

"Alright..." He thought about it for a second. "This was four years ago...I worked part-time in a cafe. As a waiter. It wasn't really meant to be serious, but I wanted to get a part-time job. Mom was close with the owner and thought I'd make a good worker even though I technically wasn't supposed to be working part-time yet. It wasn't that popular of a cafe anyway since it had no theme and just served generic stuff...most days I just relaxed behind the counter with some manga for the majority of the afternoon until I got off at around nine or ten at night,"

Sayaka nodded, picturing a fourteen-year-old Makoto kicked up in a chair, thumbing the pages of his favourite shounen. She loved him in that image; this young boy who would mature into her current boyfriend; she loved him in all images her mind created of him.

"One day, it was another slow day, but this young woman walked in when I was in the middle of reading. It was about eleven in the morning, so a bit late for coffee, but who cares, right? It's not my business. So I put my book down and addressed her politely; she couldn't have been older than twenty. She was pretty but also unnerving in her prettiness...if that makes sense. I remember she had dark black hair cut into a nice bob and a loud red sweater with white sequined pants. She also wore a pink watch.

Anyway, I asked her what she wanted, and she smiled mysteriously and said: 'Just a vanilla latte, small please," I nodded and started making that for her, but the whole time I just felt uneasy. I asked her if I saw her around town, but she just laughed and said she traveled around a lot. I started making her drink and all at once nearly froze as I realized why she looked familiar,"

They were a block away from their apartment by that point. Sayaka blinked. "Who was she?"

"I finished making her the drink and gave it to her and told her it'd be nine-hundred-seventy-nine yen. I then tried to give her a smile and asked if I had seen her around since she looked familiar. She handed me thirteen-forty-five and said I could keep it. I then told her that she was supposed to be dead for over a year.

She smiled breezily as she took her drink and said I shouldn't believe everything I read in the paper, as sometimes deaths are faked. She stood there and took some sips of her drink as I tried desperately to think of something else to say to her. I didn't want her to leave yet. I just had to know...eventually I just gave her a wave and bow and told her to take care of herself, and she smirked and said: 'Perhaps we'll meet again, very soon,' and left. My blood chilled when I heard that. I'll never forget those woman's eyes; they looked like the eyes of someone who had tasted true despair and loved it. If we ever come across Enoshima-san and try to fight her, I think her eyes would look just like that,"

They parked their bikes in the yard. "She was talented and had a pretty voice..but I just couldn't after that,"

"Who was it, Makoto-kun?" Sayaka pressed again.

"You know that series Pastel Yumi? Komaru-chan was a big fan,"

She nodded. "I loved it as a child!"

"The main actress of it...she was the one who stopped in for a coffee that day. Shiga Mariko-san."

"But she died! Back in '89, it was all over the news!" Sayaka found herself gasping. "It could've just been a woman who looked like her,"

"That's what I thought for the longest time, but..." Makoto sat down on their steps and she sat down beside him. "Now I'm starting to wonder if it was truly her. I mean, maybe she didn't really die after all. Maybe she's still alive now, wouldn't that be something?"

"It would be." Sayaka agreed. "But I don't think she's here,"

"Not with eyes like that,"

They were quiet for a time, and she leaned against his shoulder.

"Oh, did I tell you that Hifumi-san found my missing earring for me? It was near the gas station," Sayaka suddenly announced, pulling it out of her kimono folds and showing it off to him.

"That's really nice of him!" Makoto nodded in agreement.

"But...it's weird. I don't remember ever going near the gas station...I wonder how he even found it?"

He shrugged and stood up. "Do you think he's lying?"

"No...it's definitely my earring...but..." Sayaka eventually trailed off and just stared at the earring in the light. She originally lost it at Hifumi's place, she knew that. So did he suspect her of breaking in?

No. He would've said something about it if he had, even if he just implied it.

Then what did he mean by 'all good things must come to an end'?

Sayaka finally stood up and went back inside the house, trying to soothe her tremulous thoughts.

* * *

Leon and Kaede walked back to their place, smiling at each other and walking hand-in-hand. Nagisa had gone home a bit early before them; feeling tired and wanting to see if 'Mukuro-mama' was home yet.

"The meeting was really-" Kaede started, suddenly freezing in terror as her words died in her throat. Leon felt a chill too as a sudden dark shadow approached them from the porch, and he immediately assumed it to be the girl with the bear in her hair before he blinked a few times and saw it was just Mukuro.

What a strange thought to have about Mukuro! She seemed prettier that night, even prettier than Kaede, if such a feat were possible. She wore a grey-blue denim dress that was low-cut with short sleeves and a brown belt around her waist. Her hair shone in the moonlight and even her freckles twinkled. She still wore that tiny bow in her hair. Leon had the feeling a knife was hidden on her hip.

"Oh, Mukuro-chan! You gave me quite a fright! I thought you were someone else!" Kaede smiled at her, but Mukuro continued to stare at Leon.

"I need to talk to you. Now." She directed.

"Does it have to be right now? I kinda got other things to do," Leon responded playfully.

"Yes. Now. Or never. Make your choice," She stared him down.

"Kaede-chan-" Leon began as he saw her letting go of his hand and giving him a stern look. "It'll just be for ten minutes,"

"I completely understand! Talk to her for as long as you need!" She encouraged weakly, heading up the steps and slamming the door right on one of her sobs. Leon was left standing there, staring at Mukuro; into those dark violet eyes that always seemed to indicate their owner knew more than him. They were surprisingly pretty...so different from Kaede's. Hers were a perky violet like the flower, always so cheerful and welcoming. Mukuro's were sharp and cold like an icy winter morning; one wrong step and you'd freeze.

"Walk down the street with me," She directed, but Leon made no moves.

"You picked a bad time to come here. Look, let's just go back inside the house and have this talk tomorrow morning, okay?" He ran a hand through his hair. "We're all tired-"

"I'll beg. I'll get down on my knees and beg. Rockstars like that, right? My sister told me they did, if a pretty girl got down on her knees and begged, they'd do anything for her," And to his horror she _did_ get down on her knees, lifting up part of her dress to expose both a knife hidden away and part of her bare thigh. Was the rest of her bare too? Where did_ that_ thought even come from? He managed to look down at her and briefly had a sick feeling of delight and power of seeing her groveling before him. Her head was right at his-

"For fuck's sake, cut this out right now and get up!" He snapped, yanking her back up to her feet. Her dress rose up again briefly to show her pale thighs; once bony and thin, now milky and thick. "Fine, we'll walk down a block or two,"

She nodded and tightly held onto his arm as they walked in the darkness. They passed a deserted shopping center with a few empty metal carts being pushed around lightly by the breeze. He involuntarily shuddered, thinking of his time in the tunnels of Shinjuku.

"I know that I am likely too late and she's right. I hate that. But I still want to be with you," She began in a low voice.

"Mukuro-san-"

She gave him a look. "I mean it. I want to stay with you forever. I don't have anyone else but you. Not even Taro-chan needs me anymore because he's no longer around,"

"He went back to our place to sleep, is he not there?"

"A boy named Shingetsu Nagisa-chan is, but he isn't."

"Mukuro-san, this is bogus. He still needs you." He stared at her.

"He _does_ need me. He _does_ need me." Mukuro whispered lowly and Leon had the dark feeling she wasn't talking about Nagisa anymore. "But I..for once in my life, I feel clear-headed. I know what I want. I need someone else in my life. I need joy and happiness and hope. You can give all of that to me," She stepped even closer to him, and for once she smelled deliciously of vanilla-cinnamon.

"Sorry, but I really gotta get home. Kaede-chan is waiting for me. But I know you can work it out just fine on your own," Leon tried to cheer her up by giving her a pat on the back, but she instead fell completely into his arms, something dangerous and lustful glowing in her eyes-he had never seen so much expression in them before and instantly decided he didn't like it.

"Leon-kun..." She slowly ran her hands down his body. "I'm not going to mince words tonight. Fuck me. Just do it. Even if it must be right here. I need it to be done, I want it to be done by you," She pressed herself up against him and Leon realized with dark arousal that she was indeed wearing nothing under that dress; even her breasts felt a bit bigger that night. "I'll be safe and free if you do.."

Leon managed to break her grip and shove her away, startling her enough to make her lose her balance and nearly fall. She trembled a bit, moaning. "If you knew-"

"I don't know, Mukuro-san. I don't. Why don't you tell me?" He demanded. She looked away. "Tell me instead of trying to rape me or whatever the hell that was!"

"I was not raping you." Was all she said.

"There was a time that I wanted you, and you knew that. A week ago. The week before that. I asked you several times and you turned me down every single time!" He yelled, wincing at his tone.

"I couldn't. It was too soon then," She whispered.

"Well now it's too late. Sorry, Ikusaba-san."

She winced at how much the unfamiliarity of her name stabbed her, then slipped her hands into her pockets. "Okay. Bye." She then turned her back and left, and Leon took a sudden chill.

"Ikusaba-san, wait!" He reached a hand out to her, but she made no sign she even heard him. He knew she did though; her purposeful ignorance might have upset him once, but not that night. Not anymore.

He called for her one last time before finally giving up and walking away, shivering again as he swore he heard her laughing down the street. But she never laughed. Never laughed, not once. And even if she ever had, it certainly didn't sound like it did just then; a low-pitched, almost comical laugh of pure despair.

_Upupupupupu._

* * *

Kaede laid awake in the dark, staring up at the ceiling. Her tears had dried forever ago and she suddenly jolted when she heard a door open up.

_Kuwata-kun?_

Maybe he was just coming to get his stuff and move himself and Mukuro out...no. She had to think positive! He was a good person. And even if he did pick Mukuro over her, well then. They were all still close friends and she was proud in the fact she never cheated once. Not on her husband and not on Leon. She wasn't that kind of person.

She heard him pull open the bedroom door and then she made out his shadow in the doorway.

"Should I turn the lamp on?" She asked nicely, and he nodded. She slowly turned the gas lantern on and in the light she noticed how pale his face was.

"Kaede-chan, just let me say something. I need to say something," He was looking straight at her.

"You can say it in the morning," She shook her head. "Please just come to bed right now,"

"No. I just need to say that I know I'm not always the greatest guy around. I'm not sappy and whatever. Probably loads of other way better guys out there for you than me. But if you want to love me genuinely, then I'm here. And I guess that's all that matters,"

"You're the right guy for me, and that's all that matters to me,"

Once they finished making love that night, Leon whispered into her ear: "Let's make it official. Let's get married," And she wept and was so certain from her happiness that it must have been a dream until that next morning when Leon took her into his arms and asked her once again. And she begun to weep again and answered in the affirmative.

Three days later, they were told by Kaito that Mukuro took her stuff and moved out; though evidently she still hadn't found a permanent house yet. Ishimaru was allowing her to live with him along with Sakura and Kenshiro for the time being. Kaede felt saddened by the loss of her friend, but also a bit relieved. Relieved? Yes...Mukuro was gone and they both found they could breathe easier.

* * *

Mukuro returned to their house only once briefly to get her things; however little she had, and look at Nagisa one last time. She lit a lamp and carried it carefully with her to stare at him, seeing him wearing a normal pair of pajamas and curled up asleep, a foot peeking out from under the blankets. His face was a smooshed-up look of contentedness; just a regular boy sleeping after a long day instead of the mute savage look she had grown so accustomed to seeing.

She caught her reflection in the mirror and stared back at the twisted, darkened features she had in the low light. The first thing she noticed was the little bow she took to wearing in her hair because Leon thought it was cute. With a great yank, it was pulled from her hair and thrown onto the floor, leaving a mess of tangles. Leon didn't deserve her. Nobody deserved her. The only person who did was...upupupupu..!

Nagisa stirred in his sleep fitfully, making Mukuro look over at him in concern. It was almost as if he sensed something dark. He'd be right.

She headed back to her own room with the lamp, getting a duffel bag out of the closet. Her room was truly one of a soldier; just a plain cot on the floor without even a picture. That was all she ever wanted, all she ever knew. Perhaps in another life she would've been as frivolous as her sister, but not in this one.

The thing hidden at the very bottom of her closet she then pulled out, staring at it in fascination. A syringe filled with viscous red-orange fluid. She never once took it before; Nagisa was around and with two adults nearby it would be far too easy for her to be caught. She found it at the clinic a few days ago and felt sick and dizzy until she finally took it; she knew it wasn't her own desire. She hid the terrible thing in her closet for days on end, never touching it despite how vivid and horrifying her nightmares got. Eventually she was compelled to put on the stupid girly dress and wash her hair and put on nice perfume in one of her dreams, then decided to make the most of it and convince Leon to take her. She thought she was doing the right thing.

She gently wrapped the needle up in paper and placed it at the top of her duffel bag before zipping it up. She turned the lamp off and silently snuck out, taking a flashlight with her as she ignored Nagisa's fitful tosses in his sleep. He must've been having nightmares. Maybe nightmares about her.

She got onto her bicycle and pedaled off, heading out of town. It was the same bicycle she used to pedal up to Hifumi's house just a few days ago; again, seemingly through no conscious will of her own. They had hardly spoken since she arrived, yet she was filled with the deep desire to see him. She marveled at his locked house and closed blinds and was ultimately disappointed that he wasn't home. Anything could happen in that house. Him and that darling doll of his probably had all kinds of freaky sex with the lights off.

She biked up to the amphitheater near one of the mountains and set herself down on the cold ground, pulling the needle out and looking it over.

It wasn't very big, but it didn't matter. What mattered was inside it; a substance designed to make her feverish and hallucinate for hours on end. Then she would have nightmares so vivid, she could reach out and touch her sister as if they were both truly there in the flesh and not separated by an island. She ripped a piece of her dress off easily near the hem and wrapped it around her forearm, wincing.

She felt a chilly breeze wash over her, and suddenly her head was filled with brief images of everyone in town; Hifumi and Aiko eating cookies, Yasuhiro and Kyoko having an intense discussion over who built the pyramids, Makoto and Sayaka reading a book together in bed, Kaede making breakfast for Leon, Kaito and Maki getting ready for bed together, and Chihiro and Aoi dancing together silently. She knew it was Junko who sent those images to her, and suddenly she knew what she had to do.

She thought of Leon rejecting her and the unfamiliarity behind her name as he spat it out like a poison. She thought of how everyone took sudden chills whenever she was around and secretly didn't include her in many activities. She thought of how everyone thought she looked too strange or talked too little or stared too much. She had tried too hard to fit in, she supposed.

Mukuro tightened her grip on the needle and slipped it into her arm as she stared down at the town one last time.

"Let them fall into Despair." She smiled an evil smirk before falling to the ground.


	18. Makoto 8: Hifumi's Thoughts

**Makoto 8: Hifumi's Thoughts**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; August 19th, 1994**

**###**

Everyone was present at the first official meeting of Hope's Peak Ministers; shown by all the pairs of shoes neatly lined up in front of the door. The meeting was held at Sayaka and Makoto's place again, and Sayaka wore her kimono and made cookies for everyone once more. The first thing on their agenda was just Makoto congratulating everyone for getting elected to serve.

"We've gotten to know each other quite well in the past few days we've assembled this council. I'm so happy to know that none of us are going anywhere!" He smiled. Everyone smiled back and gave a tiny round of applause for themselves. Makoto then cleared his throat. "Our first item to talk about tonight is the issue of our spies. It's getting time that we should think about sending them soon, but who will go suggest the offer to them? I think it should be the person who suggested them in the first place. Leon-san, you go talk to Kizakura-san. Asahina-chan, you go talk to Kirigiri-san. And Fujisaki-san, you and Kaito-san can go talk to Gonta-san."

Chihiro shyly raised his hand, then quickly wrote out something and handed it to Kaito to read.

"While he doesn't disagree with that idea, he does worry that it might take a few days to work with Gonta-san and get him to agree," He read.

"When are we sending them?" Aoi asked curiously.

"We can't send them all at once, that's too obvious. 'Cuz...what else would it look like? We gotta send them one at a time," Leon said. "Kizakura-san and Kirigiri-san might suspect we've sent others, but they won't say anything if they don't know a name,"

"But what if they're tortured? The fashionista seems like the kind of person who'd just torture people for fun!" Sayaka cried. "Let alone trying to get out information,"

Makoto winced. "We all know this is a dangerous and risky situation...but we've decided on it."

"If I may suggest a schedule," Yasuhiro cut in. "How about Kizakura-san leaves on August 26th, Kirigiri-chi leaves on August 27th, and Gonta-san leaves on August 28th? Tell them to take different roads and different vehicles so their arrivals seem more natural. With Gonta-san leaving last, that gives Fujisaki-chi plenty of time to work with him,"

"Yeah, that could work!" Aoi nodded.

_The spies should be told to come back whenever they feel it's time. With the exception of Gonta-san, who'd have to be put under hypnosis and told when to return,_ Chihiro got a thoughtful expression on his features. _But the weather might also be a factor. This has been a very active typhoon season and around late September or early October there could be some bad storms coming that'd strand them on another island. I say they should only spend three weeks at the most in Nagasaki._

"Surely they could just move in further mainland if a typhoon does come? Like further south of Nagasaki," Sayaka suggested.

"No way, that'll just delay them even further! Then we might not see them until spring!" Kaito declined.

"If that's the case, then Kizakura-san should be given a headstart," Leon said. "Just in case. I'll go talk to him tonight, probably. I'll send him off on his way the day after tomorrow,"

"What's next?" Makoto looked around at everyone.

"I think we should start thinking about how to make our community here more official. Start counting people who come in and keeping track of people who come out. A census. And make everyone here be the head of something!" Yasuhiro suggested.

"Keeping track of people who come out? Like leave? Why does that matter?" Aoi asked.

"What if they leave and head off south with vital information?" Leon stated. "What then?"

"We can't just lock them up though to stop them from leaving! Just because they don't like how we run things...that's pretty bad," Sayaka mumbled.

"Yeah, no secret police force!" Yasuhiro seconded.

"I like what Yasuhiro-san mentioned earlier about making everyone be the head of something. It'd help us focus our strengths into one specific thing and help the reconstruction go faster. It'll be like the real Ministers and their Prime Minister!" Makoto laughed. "Does anyone have any ideas in that area?"

Chihiro blushed a bit and handed Kaito another piece of paper to read, which he did so after clearing his throat.

_I wrote all of this down this morning just in preparation for this meeting. I don't like a lot of what I'm suggesting, but know that I thought about it long enough and this is as confident as I'll ever get about it. It's really hard to be a mute sometimes, so please just bare with me as I try to sort out all my thoughts on this matter. First things first, we should re-establish the courthouse and make Makoto-san the new Minister of Defense. He will have the power to deputize at least thirty other men, and also be responsible for answering to any lawbreakers we have in town._

"That's a lot to spring on me there," Makoto smiled awkwardly. "I'm not sure if I could do all of that,"

"Surely our community doesn't have that many problems with violence though? Or any sort of crime?" Sayaka worried.

"Do you _want_ there to be? People get antsy, Sayaka-chan. What if some guy sees his girl talking to a dude he doesn't like and he just grabs a knife that's left lying around and stabs both of them? Then there'd be a killer walking around free,"

She was silent, a hand on her stomach.

_Places without some sort of law get messy fast. I learned that first-hand when I was made to take over as Daiya-san's deputy back in June. I'm not very happy to suggest this either, but what can be done?_ Chihiro placed his hands on his chest. _I picked Makoto-san because he's loyal and kind and has a way of handling people like that. Everyone here looks up to him. He's a good person with a good heart, probably moreso than everyone else in this room, and that's saying a lot._

"I guess I have no choice..." Makoto rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I'll accept it. Never once in my life did I think I'd be made a Minister of Defense..."

"Um, I have a question," Sayaka's features darkened. "Can I decline this? It's not safe! What happens if Makoto-kun gets in over his head? Or someone gets upset with him and shoots him? What then? Are you really going to say: 'Oh, I'm really sorry about that, Sayaka-chan,' Fujisaki-san? Because I won't accept that apology! I'm going to have a child and so I think I have a bit of an authority to speak on making stupid decisions!" She then burst into tears and it took about ten minutes to get her to calm down and continue on with the meeting. The vote for making Makoto Minister of Defense was 7-1; Sayaka still declined.

"But what is the Minister of Defense without the others?" Makoto added. "Did you have anyone else in mind for the others?"

Kaito nodded. "There's still quite a bit written here, though not as awfully dark as the one we just read," He flipped the page over.

_I have a few ideas for other Minister members, if they agree to take it. After all, there is still a lot more to do in a city than just keeping track of law-breakers. Sayaka-san, you get to be Minister of Education/Culture. Due to your...current status, I think you would be a good choice to help rebuild schools and give children around here like Kotoko-chan and Nagisa-chan a proper education. You can also help preserve relics of our old world for the new generation._

_Aoi-san, you get to be Minister of Agriculture/Fishing. You seem like someone who knows her way around when it comes to edible plants. You could help grow plants and teach others the right way to catch seafood._

_Leon-san, you get to be Minister of Finance. Keeping track of valuables and money, well honestly mostly valuables in a world like this. Money is a bit worthless..but you seemed like a good choice for the job._

_Yasuhiro-san, you get to be Minister of Communication. Due to your job, you are responsible for making sure the community is aware of everything we decide on in here if anyone is curious enough._

_Kaito-san, you get to be Minister of Science/Technology. You did astronaut training and aced it before the world ended. You told me that once. That sort of thing can't be easy and thus I really admire your strength and bravery. You can help rebuild science facilities and make sure we don't go completely dark in terms of scientific knowledge. Surely you are more qualified for this job than anyone else in here._

_Hifumi-san, you get to be Minister of Reconstruction. I cannot think of a better person for that title than you. You are always tirelessly working on reconstruction projects, taking the hardest ones that nobody else wants. Volunteering for them, even! I name you this in greater pride than I named the others because I have the most faith in you._

Chihiro was blushing heavily once Kaito finished reading, and everyone was silent as they mulled over what was written. Each job was practically tailor-made for them.

Finally, Sayaka nodded. "Alright. If it means we can all be useful and help each other out...then I accept. I'll become a Minister," The others all nodded in agreement, and the vote was unanimous for every choice.

"But we've forgotten the most important part! We can't have the Ministers without a Prime Minister! He's the most important part aside from the Emperor of course! Which one of us wants that job?" Yasuhiro announced, looking around.

"I think the Prime Minister should be the one who helped found this community and council. The only one of us who didn't make himself a Minister," Makoto begun, and everyone smiled at Chihiro. He blushed heavily again and tried to write something down.

"Oh, that makes Makoto-san his second-in-command if anything ever happens!" Aoi realized.

Chihiro finally managed to write something down and held his notebook up in front of his face, his face red-hot from his blushes.

_I don't deserve all this flattery. I just had an idea. I'm not sure if I'm Prime Minister material._

"Too late for that now!" Leon suddenly grabbed Chihiro and gave him a noogie, laughing. "Always wanted to do that to a Prime Minister!" Everyone laughed.

And on that note, the meeting adjourned.

* * *

Sayaka continued to stare at Makoto long after everyone else had left, a serious expression on her face. "I still don't think you should've taken the job," She said after a time.

"But what about your baby? All you talk about is how you want him or her brought up in a safe, non-crazy world. I understand that, Sayaka-chan. And that's why I accepted the job," Makoto tried to take her hands, but she placed them firmly at her sides. "I'm the best choice,"

"What about me and the baby?" She finally started crying again and buried her face in Makoto's chest. "What about us?"

"Everything will be alright," He gently rubbed her back, but Sayaka looked up at him with such ferocity and uncertainty in her eyes Makoto actually stepped back.

"No. No, it won't be. I really don't think that it is," She looked away, rubbing her eyes.

"Sayaka-chan...why don't we get married?" Makoto offered. "Not right now, but in a few weeks or so. We'll make it be a huge traditional thing in that temple and invite the council. How does that sound?"

Sayaka sniffled, placing her hands on her belly. She randomly thought of her nightmare a few months ago, the one with the scalpel. She also randomly thought of her encounter with Hifumi the previous night and his mysterious, cryptic nature. No, somehow, she felt as though nothing would be alright again for quite a while. Still, she offered him a weak, sad smile.

"Yes. I would love that,"

* * *

The next morning, Hifumi was up early and after dressing headed down to the park in the middle of town to meet up with a group of several other men who all made up the Burial Committee. Hifumi helped look for Chiaki in his spare time; though a small part of him truly did wonder if such searches would forever be fruitless, maybe she was secretly hiding out in someone else's house or something and they'd never know unless they started kicking down peoples' doors. He was chosen to be head of the Burial Committee alongside his right-hand, Kiyotaka Ishimaru. 'Burial Committee' was a bit of an old term for it, as they weren't actually burying the bodies, they were burning them. But 'Burning Committee' didn't sound right and its current name stuck.

He didn't eat breakfast that day, worried about keeping it down, but still addressed the eager-looking men with a proud stance.

"Morning, everyone!" He grinned. He wore the same heavy gloves and boots and protective clothes as everyone else, though his had a single white sash going down his chest that marked him as their Minister of Reconstruction. "Today I thought we'd go a bit simple and go a bit out of town today and clean out that shrine,"

The men nodded in agreement and got onto their truck, driving out. Hifumi ran a hand through his hair, looking out the window past the houses going by. Really, one day he ought to thank Chihiro-sama for having such doubt in him prior. If he hadn't, Hifumi wouldn't have stepped up to prove himself and his worth and gotten himself a spot on the council, the head of such an important committee, and the respect of the other citizens. Why, Aiko practically kissed the ground he walked on! It was almost too much to bare!

To think that him, Hifumi Yamada, was originally some fat loser whose only friend was his older sister just a few months ago, the one who never got picked for anything, not even the original high-school of his choice, was now seen as a respected leader. If his older self could see, he likely wouldn't believe it.

After they arrived at the shrine, Ishimaru clapped his hands together. "Let's get started, everyone! We're going to spend the remainder of our day here, so best to work diligently! And don't get sick!" He laughed. "That was a joke!"

Hifumi worked alongside the men, gingerly lifting up the crouched and kneeling bodies and handing them off to whoever was in charge of piling them up outside. His stomach turned particularly hard after lunch and he felt embarrassed as he tucked behind a corner and threw up the pie filling he ate earlier; were Ishimaru's eyes on him? But he couldn't help it! It smelled _so_ bad in there; sickly-sweet.

They worked for the remainder of the day, setting the large pile on fire and hopping back into their truck afterwards. One of the men randomly clapped Hifumi on the back, making him look over.

"You did a great job today, Minister Yamada!" He grinned.

"He did indeed! Maybe we should start calling him Hawk!" Ishimaru nodded in agreement.

"Hawk...?" Hifumi repeated in confusion. Was Ishimaru making fun of him? He had to have been. Why else would he call a fat, ugly loser something fast and slim-

Except he _wasn't_ fat anymore, was he? He had dropped the pounds like crazy and was now quite slim and at a healthy, reasonable weight. He looked and felt like a whole new man. And Ishimaru didn't know him before the pandemic, so he had no clue about Hifumi's prior torment and humiliation about his appearance, and even if he had, Hifumi got the sudden feeling he wouldn't care much.

"Yeah, that's a great name for him!" One of the other guys nodded in approval, and Hifumi found himself nodding along. "If that's alright with you, Minister Yamada?"

"Yeah. It's a good name! What's a protagonist without an alias?" He posed proudly before hopping back onto his motorcycle, heading back home. He noticed another group of men taking a wrecking ball to some of the blocked streets as he drove and stopped for a second to just stare at them. He didn't recognize a single one.

Hiroshima was really starting to turn into a regular city again, wasn't it?

Aiko was waiting for him at home, a bowl of ramen at the ready. "How was work today, Master Hifumi? Did you want your dinner first? Or a shower?" She asked sweetly, bowing lowly. He took the soup from her as an answer and he sat down on the couch, reading a manga as he ate. Aiko stared after him lovingly.

His day started on a high note and ended much the same way.

* * *

After a quiet dinner of boxed curry, Kaede read a story to Nagisa to help him sleep while Leon was startled by a knock at his door. "Who is it?" He called out, wildly fearing it might've been Mukuro come to beg on her knees again to take him back.

"Leon-san?" Sayaka's soft voice reached his ears instead, and he quickly threw open the door. She was standing there in an orange turtleneck and dark green jumper-dress, a matching headband pulling her bangs back. She was hugging herself and refused to look him in the eyes.

"What's wrong? Why'd you come here at this hour? To me, of all people?"

"I...you're going to think I'm crazy. People aren't acting right. Nothing seems right. We're all psychic, but even now, for once, I can't figure out what's wrong, what's going to happen," She rubbed her eyes, looking close to tears.

"Just tell me, Sayaka-chan! I promise, I've likely seen crazier," He pulled her inside the house and slammed the door. "Just keep it down. Don't want Nagisa-chan to startle,"

"It's...It's Hifumi-san. There's..." Sayaka suddenly burst into tears. "I can't tell you, you like him too much! Everyone likes him too much, but you most of all because you see him as some sort of savior!"

Leon grabbed her shoulders. "Don't start cryin' on me now! Tell me!"

Sayaka took a shuddering breath and collapsed on his couch, spilling out everything that had happened between her and Hifumi since he first pulled up in front of her house that day she was lighting incense for her family in Nagoya and finishing with him finding her earring and giving it back to her a few nights ago. A silence stretched between the two for a time.

"You know, in the shed he got the paint at, he wrote an umbrella on the wall. It was small but I could still make it out. He wrote both of your names underneath it like a lovesick elementary-age kid," Leon finally said.

Sayaka shivered.

"You...you don't think he secretly has it out for us, do you? I mean, that'd be silly, right?" He suddenly asked.

"I don't know...everyone in town loves him. Hope's Peak Ministers, we all love him. His darling doll surely loves him. Everyone in town loves and respects him both, and you can tell he's pleased as punch. He's never received so much positive reception before," Sayaka played with her hair. "If he ever did, I don't think he does anymore."

"You said you had a diary that he read, right? Well...what if he started his own afterwards? Out of jealousy or some crap like that? I don't know anythin' about writers, but I do know with musicians, it's different. Someone takes your idea for a song first, you can sample it all you want, but people will forever be comparing you to the original. When I visited him, I noticed a bunch of books randomly placed on his bookshelf. He seems like a bookish guy who'd take care of them, so I found that weird. But now..."

"Yeah! I-I saw them too, the same day Ikusaba-san came over! I thought it was strange...he really was a person who loved his books,"

Leon jumped up. "Tomorrow, we'll go over to his place and look for it. He'll be out all day with the burial guys. And that girl of his will be over at Tsubasa-san's place, braiding their hair or something. Whatever chicks do together. It'll be perfect!"

Sayaka stood up as well, nodding. "But...what if we really do find something? Should we...tell someone? Makoto-kun?"

"We'll have to tell Hope's Peak Ministers in general, I guess. I'm sure one of them could arrange a secret meeting that Hifumi-san wouldn't know about especially since none of us live with him," He shrugged. "I hate to admit it, because I never believed in all that physic stuff before, but...I have a feeling. A really bad feeling."

"Me too," Sayaka looked away. "That's why we have to do this,"

* * *

The next day, Sayaka arrived at Hifumi's place first, looking around as she hid her bike in a nearby garage and jumped a bit at a hand suddenly touching her shoulder.

"Leon-san!" She gasped. "I...I thought you were..." She silenced as they walked towards Hifumi's house, quietly knocking on the door and getting no answer. "It's empty. They're both gone," She sighed. "If we do indeed find anything...Makoto-kun should be the first person to know. He's our Minister of Defense and practically a judge. If anyone would know what to do next, it'd be him,"

"Yeah, but he might consider putting Hifumi-san in jail," Leon slipped his hands into his pockets. "Could you live with that?"

"If he's truly planning something horrible..." She trailed off as she went around the back, squatting down and pushing her hands hard against the basement glass, groaning. "He locked it,"

"Break it,"

"What?!"

"If Hifumi-san has nothing to hide, then he'll just assume some rowdy kids broke it. If he does have something to hide, well, then, he deserves the guilt, doesn't he?" Leon crossed his arms in front of his chest, shrugging.

And with that, he took his foot and kicked the glass in, both of them shielding their feet from the spray of glass. Leon crawled in first, taking Sayaka's hand and gently lifting her in and setting her down on her feet. "No sense in having you miscarry as you try to crawl through that window,"

She glanced around as her eyes adjusted, seeing everything perfectly in place. Really the only thing that changed were additional details on the cosplay outfits. Leon walked up the stairs and threw open the door, and Sayaka followed after him nervously.

"We have to hurry...his girl might come back soon," She whispered, feeling her heart hammer in her chest. How ironic it'd be if Makoto's first official job as Minister of Defense would be to arrest his own fiancée for breaking into someone else's house-Hifumi's house, nonetheless.

"Found it!" Leon announced, carefully moving some books aside and pulling out a royal blue book with gold letterings on the front. "Surprisingly nice-lookin',"

"Open it," Sayaka's voice sounded like it was coming from a million miles away. Her heart hammered loudly in her ears still and she kept sneaking glances over at the front door, even as she inched closer to Leon to read the journal too.

They flipped through it together, mainly finding long sections of drafts and short stories he wrote; their eyes widened as they recognized physical features the characters had.

"He's writing about us!" Sayaka gasped.

"Most of this seems pretty self-indulgent...weird and kinda disturbing, but not harmful. He's taking out his frustrations by writing about us, I guess," Leon shrugged, still reading. Most of the short stories featured warriors or other fantastical careers going on adventures to fight evil. Despite vaguely resembling their muse's personalities, it was obvious the council had inspired the stories, as well as a few other people he likely met around the community; such as the perky, sweet-loving archer, the soft-spoken and emotional princess, the wise and eccentric shaman, and the deaf-mute priest who could make people love him with the wave of his hand.

Some other entries were just that; journal entries that mainly spoke of pride and true Buddhism and Hifumi setting out on his great journey. Sayaka cringed.

"Yeah, this stuff...I don't think it's normal," Leon agreed. They flipped back to the first page, noticing just a simple line written there in big, hurried strokes. The kanji for 'one' was placed on the side. They both leaned in to look and Sayaka nearly collapsed, feeling dread sink down into her feet. "Sayaka-chan? Sayaka-chan?"

"H-Huh?" She was acutely aware of Leon grabbing her arm tightly.

"We have to show this to Makoto-san. This just proves that fact. There's something deeply wrong with Hifumi-san, to write something like that," He shuddered. "Him and Ikusaba-san both," He trailed off.

She nodded numbly, watching Leon close up the journal and cover up their tracks, taking only the book. Even the bookshelf looked untouched. Sayaka couldn't stop trembling even as she got back onto her bike and took slow pedals back to her house.

The first sentence in Hifumi's journal read:

_It would be my greatest pleasure this post-apocalyptic summer to make something of myself; I think I shall do just that by murdering that goodie-two-shoes, 'Sir' Makoto Naegi, and just perhaps, that little slut of a girlfriend of his too._


	19. Leon 3: Meeting With the Spies

**Leon 3: Meeting With the Spies**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; August 21st, 1994**

* * *

Ironically enough, Koichi Kizakura's house overlooked a cemetery. It was an older one with all of the bodies kept in fancy crypts, and very small; with an unbroken lock and chain thrown over the gate. Him and Leon sat out on his porch that very morning at sunrise, after breakfast, and Leon was smoking a cigarette of his. Kizakura was reading silently before he looked up after a while and sighed a bit.

"Quite the little operation you guys have got going on here, huh? As long as you get the power on soon. Otherwise people might start leaving again, not wanting to face yet another summer without electric fans. And what then?" He mused, looking over at Leon.

"Kaito-san is working tirelessly to install solar panels on every house and busy store in town alongside those programmers. I trust them. They're a hell of a lot smarter than I," Leon took a long drag.

"You know, maybe it's for the best that that little girl is gone. People need to decide for themselves what they want to believe," Kizakura begun. "I'm as spiritual as anyone else, don't get me wrong, but...something's telling me she might be dead. We've been looking for several days now and have found nothing. Still, a small part of me doesn't want to truly believe that at all. I'm a simple man, you know. Just want to read and tend to my garden and drink. We don't need all of these omens and believe the gods sent a blind girl to lead us because that means evil spirits exist too, and they're closer than we'd like to think,"

"That's why I'm here," Leon blew smoke out of his mouth, marveling at it blow away into the wind.

"I know, and I accept."

"Huh?" He stared at the older man in disbelief, finding himself wishing he hadn't mentioned his simple life. What laid ahead of him now was anything but simple. "D-Did someone on the council tattle? Because if they did-"

"No, nobody did. I could tell by your face you had something important to tell me. You seemed upset about something," Kizakura flipped a page in his book.

"Am I not allowed to be upset over the fact that I'm sending you-"

"To be a spy? To spy on the other side?"

Leon just nodded.

"Makes sense. We have to know what's on the other side to truly know what we're up against. Honestly, I think some of the people here are worrying a bit too much. There's definitely a reason to be at least a bit worried though," He finally shut his book. "How much did you think this over though? What if one of us likes the place so much we decide to stay and never come back? _She's_ likely to have electricity."

Leon flinched a bit. "We never considered that..." He admitted.

Kizakura was silent for a time. "I'll go tomorrow. I can drive so I'll take a car. It'll still take me some time to get over there though. And with typhoon season on the way..." He stopped and looked at the sunrise. "Not to mention, I'm not as young as I used to be. Mid-forties. And I drink. Don't want to admit it, but I drink a lot. There's a chance some part of me just wants to give out on the way back and end me. Did you discuss that?"

Leon nodded.

"Sending others? Actually, no. Don't answer that,"

"You don't have to go!" Leon blurted out. "Nobody's forcing you. It was just an idea-"

Kizakura looked Leon right in the face. "You're just trying to rid yourself of this responsibility, aren't you?"

"Yeah, maybe. I just don't like the idea of a guy like you, out there. The chances you'll come back are slim. Chances you'll come back with actual useful information are even slimmer. You're right, you ain't young any more," He ran a hand through his hair.

"People are never too old, or too young, for that matter, to do the right thing. Lady Nanami left us because she thought she was doing the right thing. Probably died miserably for it in some ditch somewhere, but those who feel a drive to do good always seem like they're mad to outsiders. Yes, I will go. I'll be lonely and chilly and miss my books and good wine...but I'll still go." He nodded to himself. "I'll be clever. That's the most I can do,"

Leon nodded with him, taking another drag. "Yeah..."

"So, how is that woman of yours doing?" Kizakura immediately changed the subject, grinning a bit.

"Fine. Both of us. Proposed to her just the other day or so. Morning after our meeting, in fact," Leon blew the smoke out of his mouth.

"Fantastic. This community needs something cheerful like a wedding to get their hopes up. That's not where the worried look in your eyes comes from though, is it?"

"No." He thought of Mukuro again and the pure desperation in her tone as she begged him to have sex with her. Mukuro; laughing creepily in the distance as he rejected her while she was done up like a tomboyish Barbie. Mukuro, having intense emotions in her eyes where none had been prior. Was she genuinely feeling depressed over something? But they had Miaya and Yasuke with them, couldn't she talk to them if she was feeling upset? Miaya might've been unable to speak like Chihiro, but she clung onto Yasuke like a life-jacket and evidently he had been teaching her things. They could find _some_ way to help, right?

"You're thinking of that other woman, aren't you?" Kizakura folded his hands over the book in his lap.

"Yeah. I think...I think she might be depressed and try killing herself or something," He took another drag. "Not about the sex thing or whatever! I don't care about that. Just...something seems different about her now. The boy she was taking care of recently recovered and came out of his shell, so she likely feels alone and unwanted. She wasn't very social even prior, so this must hurt her a lot,"

"If it gets worse, she may indeed try killing herself," Kizakura nodded. Leon stared at him in shock. "You're just one man, right? You made your choice? And do you mean it?"

Leon nodded.

"Then you shouldn't worry about things out of your control. You have Akamatsu-chan and that's far more than enough. Take charge of your own soul and grow up a bit! Live with your choices! To worry about everything at once is just a recipe for disaster,"

Leon put out the cigarette. "I like talking to ya," He said genuinely.

"Because I know what I'm talking about," Kizakura adjusted his hat. "There are many different ways to commit suicide. Take it from me,"

He took a sudden chill.

* * *

Kizakura did indeed leave the next morning, heading off in an older car with a dent in the back of the trunk. Once he drove out of the community and left Hiroshima as a whole, he suddenly felt enlightened and energetic. The wind was metaphorically at his heels, and his heart beat for more adventure. Really, the thought he might encounter the girl with the bear in her hair herself hadn't even occurred to him at that point. He briefly wondered if he'd return to Hope's Peak again and despite a feeling in him saying no, he knew he somehow would and shook his head against it. After taking a break, he got back in the car and continued to drive off.

The fresh air of the mountains smelled amazing. Not a cloud in the deep blue sky. A beautiful day. And one of the finest days of Kizakura's own life.

* * *

Aoi knocked quickly on the door belonging to the house Kyoko shared with Yasuhiro; she opened it after only two knocks.

"Yes?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I have to talk to you about something!" Aoi tried to bounce, but suddenly felt queasy. She motioned to the street.

"What?" Kyoko noticed Aoi's change in tone and smirked secretly.

"It's something super-duper important!" And Aoi gently grabbed Kyoko's gloved hands and pulled her away.

* * *

That afternoon, Chihiro, Makoto, Himiko, and Kaito all biked out together to the northern part of town to that large house where Gonta lived by himself. His house was quite famous to the 'older' residents of Hope's Peak as the entire front yard was decorated in all kinds of terrariums and habitats to keep bugs in, though they were left open to let the bugs come and go as they pleased. Several butterflies were resting in his pollinator garden in bright colours. It certainly wasn't a house for those squeamish or terrified by bugs. Gonta himself then walked out onto the porch of his house, dressed in a striped shirt and overalls with still no shoes and waving eagerly at them.

From a distance, he looked like he'd be some sort of painter or pottery-maker with his free-spirited appearance. Once one got super close, though, they'd realize there was something not quite there when it came to his mental state.

Chihiro didn't mock him for it; rather, that was why he felt such a strong bond with Gonta, he thought. Because of his own disability, people often assumed he wasn't all there mentally either simply because it took him a while to learn how to write alongside being unable to talk or hear. People tended to be coyer about it and whisper discreetly because he dressed like a girl, but he still caught snippets of what they said. 'Social failure' was their favourite to apply, or 'soft upstairs'. Even on the night he was jumped in Osaka, he was forced to have soda after a while because the bartender refused to serve him more than two beers, then spent the remainder of the night leaning over the very end of the counter, whispering to the other customer there that night.

He made sure his mouth was covered by his hand, but Chihiro caught enough of his end that he had an exact idea of what the bartender was saying.

"Such a cute girl, ain't she? Yeah...famous 'round town...'cuz she can't talk or hear...she's dumb as a board...bet she's socially-retarded too...people like that often are.." That was what he said.

There was one term often applied to Chihiro that he felt fit Gonta perfectly, however. 'Simple-minded'. Because at the end of the day, that was what Gonta was. Nothing was wrong with being simple and not caring for excessive things; worrying about too much complexity led to stress. Simple things were good. But even people who enjoyed the simple things in life often had to admit that that's all they were; simple, with no complexity whatsoever.

"Chihiro-kun! Gonta very happy to see you again!" Gonta cheered and picked Chihiro up off the ground, pulling him into a tight hug. Chihiro gasped a bit in surprise, feeling tears sting in his bad covered eye. "Kaito-san too! Lots of people came to see Gonta!" He set Chihiro down gently and still smiled. "And...you're..."

Chihiro mimed flexing with his right arm, pressing the muscles down that formed before pointing to Makoto. It was something Mr. Tanaka had taught him all those years ago; associating a meaning with a name you wanted to remember and it'd click. Luckily for them their names often had simple meanings behind them. He then pulled out his notebook and wrote something down, handing it to Kaito.

"What do you call someone who has a lot of muscles?" He read out-loud.

Himiko just rubbed at her eyes.

"Strong! Strength! That right, isn't it?" Gonta exclaimed. "Makoto!"

Makoto nodded slowly and Chihiro placed his fingers in front of his mouth.

"Gonta got it, then! Gonta smart! Gonta been learning lots of things lately!" He cheered, praising himself. "Want to come in?"

Chihiro instantly had to duck to prevent himself from getting slapped in the face with a giant empty birdcage left swinging lowly next to the doorframe. How Gonta himself never hit himself on it, he'd never know. The remainder of the house wasn't as interesting as the outside; mainly empty cages and massive amounts of fake plants everywhere with everything painted electric green and blue.

Once they finished looking around, the group sat Gonta down at the dining room table.

"We're going to hypnotize you again," Kaito explained. "But before we do, Chihiro-kun needs to make sure you're alright with it,"

"That's why Himiko-chan is here, right?" Gonta asked eagerly, watching the girl pull out a golden pocket watch.

"Yeah...this is kinda important, so are you sure you want to?" Makoto asked again. "Fujisaki-san says he'll explain everything to you afterwards,"

"Gonta doesn't mind, but it might not work. Gonta never gets sleepy during the day!"

Himiko gently held the watch in front of his face, slowly pulling it back and allowing it to swing. "Do you want to see an elephant?" She asked softly, and Gonta quickly passed-out, nearly falling forward in his seat. Chihiro handed Makoto the 'script' he had written for that very scenario, and Makoto awkwardly shuffled through them before starting to read.

"Can you hear me, Gonta-san?" He asked slowly.

"Yes, Gonta can hear you just fine," Was the answer. Makoto felt a chill go down his back involuntarily at the shift in tone. Something was...off about it. Not the fact that Gonta had better articulation, but even the voice itself sounded deeper, clearer, almost otherworldly. He briefly looked at Chihiro. What would his voice sound like in that other realm?

He couldn't think about it at that point; he needed to continue on. Himiko's watch was starting to slow down.

"I'm Naegi Makoto,"

"Yes."

"Fujisaki Chihiro-san is here, and so is Momota Kaito-san and Yumeno Himiko-san,"

"They are all here,"

"We're all your friends,"

"You are!"

"We need you to do something for us, Gonta-san. Something dangerous. For Hope's Peak,"

"Dangerous...Gonta doesn't like danger. Gonta doesn't want to be afraid," He suddenly looked troubled. Makoto looked, who was staring at Gonta with an unreadable expression on his face. "It's _her,_ isn't it? It's her..."

The room took a sudden chill. Himiko nearly lost her grip on the watch and it nearly hit the table before she grabbed the end of the chain again. Kaito paled.

"Who is she?" Makoto pressed.

"The girl with the bear in her hair...her name is Enoshima Junko. You want me to..." Gonta trailed off again, sighing deeply.

"How do you know about her?" Makoto continued, trying to keep his voice level. None of this was scripted.

"Because she comes to me in my dreams. I see her face...I see what she truly looks like. I see what she hides, what she doesn't want anyone else to see."

They all shivered.

"What does she look like, Gonta-san?" Makoto asked slowly, and he didn't receive an answer for a long time. Right as he was about to go back to the scripted questions, however, Gonta started speaking again.

"A regular person, like any woman you'd see on the street. But her icy-blue eyes are always hidden. Look deep into them and you see red. You see fresh despair. When she grins, people convulse from heart attacks and flowers curl up and die. The very ground she walks on melts. She isn't of this world, she isn't of herself. She shouldn't have been born at all and takes it out on the world. She's not human, she is Despair; the purest form that exists. She controls everything that is of despair and corrupts those down on their luck. She has all of this power, but she is afraid. Afraid of us. Afraid of hope. She will do anything in her power to stop it. To speak her name is to embrace despair into your life; Junko Enoshima. Junko Enoshima is the name of true despair." He fell silent after that.

A loud clatter sounded out as Himiko finally dropped the pocket watch onto the table, eyes wide. All of the colour had drained from Kaito's face and he nervously kneaded the bottom of his shirt. Chihiro was silently sobbing from his good eye. Makoto himself felt that his entire body had turned to glass. The four looked at each other in silent terror and contemplation.

Eventually, Makoto tried to clear his throat and continue. "What else do you know about her?"

"Just that I'm afraid of her...but I'll still do as you say. But I'm very scared," Gonta sighed.

"Do you know what became of Miss Chiaki? Is she still alive?" Kaito asked suddenly.

"Yes. She is alive still, but not in the right mind. She is still meditating," Gonta nodded.

"What does that mean?"

"She will continue to meditate and live off of the land until she finds out what she wants. The fish were provided to her because people who were hungry desired them. Everything has always been provided to her. But what she doesn't understand is that something she cannot prevent will happen, something terrible that will befall this community while she is away. Pity her, for she does not know. She will die long before she figures out what's wrong. She will-"

"Alright, I've heard enough!" Kaito gasped and looked over at Makoto for help. Makoto sighed.

"Gonta-san?"

"Yes,"

"Are you the same Gonta-san that Fujisaki-san met in the south? Are you the same Gonta-san we all know when you're awake?"

"Yes, but I am more than that. I am the spirits of this world, both good and mischievous," Gonta leaned back in his chair slightly. "Where shall you send me?"

"To the south-west," Makoto stated.

"To the south-west," Gonta repeated with a nod of understanding.

"We want you to look and see what's going on there. Then come back and tell us. You can do that, right?"

Gonta nodded again.

"Can you find your way there?"

"In the nighttime. Crickets help,"

"And if anyone asks you why you're there, you'll tell them that we drove you out because you're simple-minded and we were afraid you would have a wife and make her pregnant with feeble-minded children. Can you remember that?" Makoto asked, his hand shaking.

"They drove Gonta out, they did! Drove Gonta out because they were afraid Gonta would have nice lady and fill her with feebs like Gonta," Gonta repeated before hanging his head slightly. "Drove Gonta out of nice house and away from friends...put Gonta out on the street," He said sadly.

Makoto felt his whole body tremble and he looked away, looking at Himiko. The watch had nearly stopped and her look was one of total concentration. Chihiro just stared carefully at him, while Kaito had paled again. "I-I'm sorry, but I just can't do this anymore..."

"You gotta! Otherwise he'll be left out in the dark forever!" Himiko scolded with sudden ferocity. Makoto swallowed and nodded, glancing back down at the notepad.

"Gonta-san, do you know what the full moon looks like?" A nod. "Good! Come back when the moon is full. Only when the moon is full and never at any other point. See it and then you get to come back to your friends and your house,"

Gonta nodded eagerly.

"Someone might see you coming back though...if one person does, kill them. If more than one does, run from them," Makoto glanced away. "But try not to be seen at all. Can you please repeat all of that back for me?"

"Come back when the moon is full and only when the moon is full. Not the dark moon and not the half-moon. Walk at night and sleep during the day. Kill one person who sees me, run from more people who see me. But try not to be seen at all," Gonta recited.

Himiko's watch finally stopped.

"You did a very good job, Gonta-san. In a few minutes, Yumeno-san is going to ask you about the elephant and you'll wake up, alright?" Makoto asked.

"Yes,"

Makoto sighed and collapsed in his seat while Himiko rested her head on the table. He shivered a bit as Chihiro took his notepad back.

"How did he know those things?" He wondered.

Chihiro tapped his pencil against his lips for a few seconds before jotting something down and handing it to Kaito.

"This says that for millions of years people with disabilities were often thought to be half-yokai or touched by the gods themselves who were so terribly divine mortal senses couldn't comprehend them and just the thought was enough to lose one. That is why for generations specific disabilities such as blindness were hailed as something special and divine, especially blind women. He didn't tell us anything useful, really, but I think it's terrifyingly clear that he is as close to the spirit realm as any of us,"

Chihiro had clasped his hands together, his one eye shimmering.

"I want him to wake up. Wake him up now so we can go," Himiko yawned a bit, trying to hide her trembles. She was a tiny redheaded thing with a blue feather tucked back behind her hair for 'mystical reasons' and wore heavily-bleached jeans and a baggy red sweater she was borrowing from Maki. "He said scary things that I didn't really like,"

The men nodded in agreement and Himiko slipped her watch back into her pocket. "Would you like to see an elephant?"

Gonta woke up with a sudden gasp and grinned at the four. "Told you it not work! Gonta never gets sleepy during the day!"

"Fujisaki-san says that you did just fine," Makoto read.

"Did Gonta stand on head like last time?!" He asked eagerly. Chihiro shook his head with a sad smile.

_Your tricks were even more impressive this time._

"We came to ask you to do something important for us. To spy in the south-west. Can you do that?" Makoto asked slowly, and Gonta nodded without hesitance.

"Yes! Gonta love to help others!" He grinned. "When Gonta go?"

"Soon," Makoto gave him a reassuring smile, ignoring the uneasiness he felt. The other three looked as distressed as he felt inwardly. These things were hard to figure out if you weren't Lady Nanami with an intimate idea of the universe's workings. He could only hope that everything would work out just fine in the end.

* * *

When Makoto returned home that evening, he found Sayaka in the middle of cooking dinner. She was wearing her red earrings again and she jumped suddenly at him closing the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a worried tone, and she nodded.

"I'm just jittery..." Sayaka still tried to smile. "Hifumi-san came over earlier today, actually, and asked if he could stay for dinner, but...I declined. Said that I wasn't feeling good,"

"That makes two of us," Makoto admitted, and told her everything.

Sayaka took to picking at her food as they ate, trying to think over everything he had said. After a time, she sighed. "Hifumi-san complimented me on my earrings before he left. He said red was a good colour for me,"

"What does that-" Sayaka suddenly stood up, an intense expression on her features.

"T-Tonight. We must call another meeting. An emergency meeting. Here, at our place. Or Leon-san's. Just somewhere," She pleaded. "And we _cannot_ tell Hifumi-san. None of us live with him though, but we still can't be too careful,"

"Sayaka-chan, what is all of this?" Makoto asked nervously. "I'm a bit scared,"

"You should be," She left the room and then came back with a fancy journal and handed it to him. "If nothing else, read the first page,"

"This is his journal! I can't just snoop through another person's private thoughts," He shook his head.

"What if those private thoughts could bring harm to someone? What if they could bring harm to you?" She pressed.

"Sayaka-chan, I-" She flipped open the journal to the very first page and thrust it in front of his face. His eyes widened as he read it.

"Call an emergency meeting. Now. You are our new Defense Minister, Makoto-kun! You have to put your foot down about certain things! And right now, both you and I are in danger!" She cried. "If not for you or me, than for the baby. If not for the baby, then for the council. For the community. For Lady Nanami. For doing the right thing,"

Makoto finally nodded. "Alright, I'll do it,"

She hugged him tightly.

* * *

Hope's Peak Ministers held their emergency meeting in the parlor of Sayaka and Makoto's house; there only being seven pairs of shoes on display by the door that time. The meeting was held at two in the morning and with only two candles to minimize suspicion. Sayaka clutched the journal close to her chest and caught Leon's gaze. Despite the annoyance everyone shared at having to be up so early, there was also a general uneasiness over the group. Why so early and mysterious? Why was Hifumi not there? Nobody spoke in even hushed whispers and just gazed ahead at Makoto, who was standing at the front of the room again.

"I know you all probably have a lot of questions right now. However, it wasn't my idea to call this meeting, it was hers. So why don't you show everyone what you read in that journal, Sayaka-chan?" Makoto motioned over to her, and she stood up and slowly opened the journal, reading the first few pages out-loud. The dim light made the already tiny handwriting look like small ants marching along on the paper, but she had it all nearly memorized by that point. After a few pages, she stopped; chest heaving and tears in her eyes.

The remainder of the council was silent, various expressions of shock and disturbance and betrayal etched onto their faces. Only Leon's face remained steady.

"Makoto-kun, I think we should kick him off this council at the very least," Sayaka began. "He is far too disturbed to be kept here if he has it out for both of us. And he might harbor similar feelings about all of you too, if these fanfictions are anything to go off of. We cannot keep him here and have what is essentially a ticking time bomb."

"I agree. The guy is a nutcase! No normal person thinks that much about glory or death or pride!" Leon nodded.

"I don't know..." Aoi sighed, looking away. "We can't really prove anything by a journal,"

"Yeah! Everyone writes messed-up stuff in their private journals, but it's just an outlet! They don't really mean it!" Yasuhiro agreed with her.

Chihiro tugged on Kaito's sleeve and handed him his notebook, and he cleared his throat to read:

"He doesn't think we should kick Hifumi-san off the council. He can't explain it, but he just doesn't think it's a good idea," He set the notebook aside. "As for me...I'm a strong advocate of justice and fairness! Say we do kick him off and find out all those writings were exactly that, writings. We just lost a good mind just because we were paranoid. We ruined the life of an innocent man! So until I find more evidence that he's in the wrong, I vote to say he stays,"

"Yeah...I agree," Makoto nodded. Sayaka whirled around to face him. "I mean, that thing about killing me...was written early in the summer. None of us were in our right minds over the summer and likely said and did all kinds of horrible things we normally wouldn't. But look at us now. We can't judge ourselves currently based on how we were back then, right?"

Everyone nodded slowly aside from Leon and Sayaka.

"So that's it, then? You're just going to keep him on? The fuck?" Leon stared at him.

"If evidence is what you need...why don't all of us try sneaking into his house when him and that girl of his are both away? We could find some weapons or something," Sayaka suggested. "That way, your minds will be made up,"

"We're not just going to break into a council member's house!" Aoi yelled. "That's wrong!"

"So? Police do it all of the time to look for drugs and things like that. Is what we're doing really any different?"

"The whole point of us being here is to make sure the community is safe, right? Well that's exactly what this is, then," Leon ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't really like the idea of breaking into someone's house...but if it's really for the good of the community..." Makoto slowly trailed off. "We'll go tomorrow. All in favour?"

The vote was a reluctant but unanimous 7-0.

* * *

The next afternoon, Aiko was out shopping again and Hifumi was out with the Burial Committee again, leaving the council with roughly a few hours to search his house for more evidence. At first Aoi was concerned about getting caught in such a large group without an excuse, but Kaito said their excuse could just be an emergency council meeting. Hifumi was a member, it wasn't far-fetched at all.

Amazingly, the window was still left unbroken, making Sayaka think Hifumi either hadn't noticed somehow or that he hadn't been down there yet. She took a sudden chill and ran her hand along her pearl studs.

One by one the members crawled in through the window, helping Sayaka out the most and slowly pulling her through the window, being mindful of her baby bump.

"Let's start looking. I think we should split up into groups," Makoto looked at everyone. "I'd suggest groups of two, but we only have seven right now..."

"I'll go with Kaito-san and Chihiro-san!" Aoi immediately volunteered, raising her hand.

"I'll be with Leon-san," Sayaka said simply.

"Then I'll go with Yasuhiro-san," Makoto nodded, and the groups all split up and started searching different areas of the house. Sayaka and Leon took the bedrooms, Makoto and Yasuhiro remained downstairs in the rec room, and the trio took the living room and kitchen.

"Geezh, his house is so spooky. I'm afraid of running into a wall," Aoi shivered a bit, huddling close to Chihiro.

Kaito made a beeline for the bookshelf, carefully pushing books to the side as he searched. Nothing opened any secret passageway, he mused to himself.

_He wouldn't have the journal on his bookshelf anymore. Sayaka-san has it._ Chihiro reminded him in looped strokes.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he hasn't hidden other stuff here," Kaito said, rubbing his neck. "Though, I've gone through most of it already and haven't found anything,"

"So far, nothing in the kitchen either," Aoi pouted. "Maybe this truly was a foolish endeavor. We should've trusted him from the start and now we'll likely get in trouble or something,"

Kaito nearly agreed before a loud scream sounded from the bedroom, making both him and Aoi jump at the sound. They rushed towards the bedroom, nearly colliding with Makoto and Yasuhiro who were running up the stairs out of the rec room.

"What happened?!" Makoto asked worriedly, arriving first.

"Take a look at your nice guy now," Leon said, pushing Hifumi's mattress off the bed and revealing the lining underneath. Sayaka was trembling, hugging herself tightly. Aoi screamed as well.

Underneath the bed were several sharpened knives; one bloodied a bit, and a gun. Leon picked the gun up and opened it up, revealing the rounds. "Seven bullets. One for every single one of us,"

Sayaka paled. "See? He _was_ going to kill us...!"

"Whoa, where did the bloody knife come from?! He hasn't actually murdered someone?!" Kaito said.

"Maybe he tested it out on an animal or something first," Yasuhiro suggested. "Oh man, this is too freaky! I don't like it one bit! A psycho was walking among us this whole time!"

Aoi covered her mouth suddenly and dashed over to the trashcan beside his desk, hurling loudly into it. Sayaka stared at her strangely.

"That does it, we have to kick him out. He's clearly plotting something sinister," Kaito nodded at Sayaka and Leon.

"I don't know...a gun with seven rounds in it? That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Makoto shook his head.

_Yes...something terrible might happen to us if we kick him off. Something even worse than anything he has planned currently,_ Chihiro held his notebook in front of his face, trembling.

"Hello? Who's inside of my house?" Hifumi's voice called out, and the six of them froze. Hifumi seemed to silently consider something before rushing into his bedroom, gasping. "Y-You guys! Did I miss an emergency meeting?"

"You wanna explain this shit we found under your mattress?" Leon motioned to the gun in his hand as well as the knives.

"Wait, you can't just break into someone's house like that! Isn't it illegal?"

"It isn't illegal if the person in question is believed to have been committing a crime!" Sayaka shot back. "And we were right!"

"Dude, you were plotting to kill us! All of us!" Yasuhiro cried.

"You guys have the wrong idea! Those knives are not mine! I have never used a knife before in my life!" Hifumi trembled.

"What about the gun?" Sayaka challenged. "Seven rounds, one for each of us,"

"Loaded..." Makoto added.

"Okay, the gun is mine. But I only have it for self-defense! I would never kill any of you! I respect each and every one of you!" Hifumi cried. "You know that. I even call you all 'Sir' and 'Lady'! What could be more respectful than that?!"

Aoi wiped her mouth off after regaining her composure. "We have reason to believe you harbor violent thoughts too..." She said shakily.

Chihiro winced as he held out Hifumi's journal, making him gasp.

"You...you broke into my house! Sayaka-sama, I know you did! That earring was yours! And you broke into my house and stole my private journal! Why?"

"Because you read mine. And now I know everything about you. Especially about how you want to kill Makoto-kun and I," Her features darkened.

"Okay, so maybe I am guilty of a few things. But are you really gonna lock me away in prison?! Usually people get a fair trial! Even in the apocalyptic stuff I've read they do! Or they're just plain executed, but you aren't gonna do that, are you?!"

"No. We're kicking you off this council on the account of harboring weapons and plotting our demise," Makoto closed his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Hifumi-san...but I need to protect them just as much as I do the rest of this community." He tried to reach out for Hifumi's shoulder, only to hesitate and put his hand back down.

_I never wanted to kick you out. I never wanted this to happen. I wanted you to remain on,_ Chihiro quickly tried to defend himself with messy strokes.

"K-Kicking me off?!" Hifumi asked in disbelief. He looked at everyone's faces, trying to find some sort of reconsideration in their eyes, but only Makoto and Chihiro harbored pity and sorrow. Aoi and Yasuhiro just looked afraid, while Leon and Sayaka looked almost proud. Kaito's own expression was unreadable, but he found Sayaka's stung the most.

"You still have friends in the community, a sense of belonging," Makoto begun before Sayaka started to walk away. Kaito picked the weapons up and set the mattress back onto the bed. Aoi held her stomach and raced after Chihiro once she saw him leaving. Leon just shook his head as he left, and Yasuhiro didn't even glance his way. None of them did, he later realized. Not a single one looked back at him.

* * *

The next two days were nothing but a monotonous downward spiral for him. He took to eating cold ramen for breakfast and dinner as Aiko never made him anything anymore, and the council took back the titles they had originally bestowed upon him, and evidently, the next meeting was going to be held at his place, but not anymore.

The story quickly spread through the community and Hifumi found himself suddenly missing the polite waves and eager smiles he normally got as opposed to the suspicious stares and whispers he received now. He was still on the Burial Committee, a fool would take that position away from him, but even Ishimaru took to looking at him with an expression that hurt.

The nights were no better; tossing and turning in bed most of the hours as nightmares plagued him. They all had worms in them, worms, evil nasty white little bugs in their brains and in their teeth, making them smile and mock. He woke up in a cold sweat nearly every time with a pounding heart.

He returned home that second day to find his door unlocked and a dark feeling creeping around him. Who was inside of his house? Was it a council member?

No, they wouldn't dare, would they?

Going inside, he found a note left on the coffee table by Aiko indicating she was plagued by bad dreams and had moved out to live with Tsubasa and her boyfriend Taro. She didn't flat-out blame him for the nightmares, or even mention that was all just an excuse, but Hifumi liked to think he was a master of reading inbetween the lines.

"Hello? Who's here!" He called out anyway, crumbling up the note.

"I am sorry for making you wait, Master. Would you prefer to have your dinner first, or me?" An unfamiliar female voice reached his ears and he turned in the direction of the kitchen, finding a woman surrounded by the shadows in there. It made her seem almost...demonic, in a way. Demonic?

"Um, who are you?" He remained where he was even as she drew closer, letting him see her features better. He recognized her but couldn't place a name to the face.

"Ikusaba Mukuro, Master. But _you_ may call me whatever," Her voice was deeper than expected, and she had fully stepped out of the shadows and bowed submissively to him. She had shiny black hair and deep violet eyes and a sprinkling of freckles. He recognized her then.

"You arrived with Leon-san's group, right?" He subtly looked at her body, knowing girls found that creepy, but if Mukuro did too, she kept quiet. She was dressed like Sailor Saturn from that one anime...yes, even with the scythe. Her skirt was never as short as Mukuro's currently was though, the leotard so low-cut. The violet brought out her eyes perfectly. Was her hair black all over? What kind of a question was_ that_? "You guys followed my trail across Japan, I heard. Like a fantasy RPG party! He came to visit me just last week with some Diet Coke and junk food. He's a...decent man,"

"Yes, he's like a prince," Mukuro gave an unreadable expression.

He carefully took a step back from her. "Seeing as how you're my elder, Lady Mukuro, what do I have the pleasure of helping you out with today?" He still tried to give her a smile.

"First of all, don't use an honorific," Her heels clicked loudly on the wooden floor. Why were her shoes still on? "Such things are limiting,"

"No honorific?" He barely managed to squeak. Her eyes seemed more judgmental.

She shook her head. "I'd like to stay for dinner...would you invite me?"

_You seemed to have all but invited yourself!_ Hifumi thought but didn't say. Instead, he nodded, a sickness in his stomach.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

She nodded and leaned forward, her silky white gloves touching his roughened hands. He nervously locked the door, knowing full well she was the one who had broken in and prepared himself for the inevitable question of why his door was locked.

But Mukuro never asked.

* * *

"I don't know how to cook much aside from rations...so I hope this is fine," Mukuro explained after he came back from taking a two-bucket shower. "But some of the stuff is good, and I already know how to cook over a fire," She shrugged.

"What are you making?" He asked curiously. Surely she was just there to chat or something.

"Beefaroni with broccoli," Mukuro started to boil the noodles over the stove. "It sounds gross, but it's not." And that was all she said on the matter. Hifumi stared at her body bent over the stove, almost like a drawing. Her body was more muscular and weathered than what was usually attractive, yet she was clearly still dressing for her body type. She bent over more and made the tiny purple skirt ride up to reveal the white panties of her leotard. He should look away, he shouldn't get aroused by that...!

"I think the two of us are going to be quite close," Mukuro commented as she handed Hifumi his meal with a submissive bow. She stood at his side with her hands folded in front of her demurely, just like a stereotypical housewife.

"What brings you here? Just dinner?" He asked again, sensing the mystery in her eyes.

"I like watching people eat."

Eat he did; three helpings of what she had made in fact, finding it simple but easy on the senses. After he had finished, Mukuro was already back in the kitchen, moving dishes around.

"Coffee or tea?" She asked in that dull tone of hers. He blinked. "Coffee or tea? Or me...?" She purposefully kicked the skirt up, revealing her panties again.

"The latter two," Hifumi had answered before thinking, then gasped in horror once he fully processed it. What a fool he was! Here was some nice girl in his house, really the only girl who had paid him mind since the incident, and then he had to go and ruin it like that!

Well, at least it wouldn't have been the first time he had done so. He'd just have to live and learn again just like those other times.

Mukuro came back into the room carrying a full-fledged tea tray and bowing gracefully again as she poured tea for both of them. Closer in the light, Hifumi noticed how plain she truly was-yet also detected something darker about her just below the surface. Something almost...sinister.

"May I help you with something?" He still asked, his hands shaking. Mukuro smiled at him from the rim of her tea-cup before setting it down.

"Yes. In fact, I think the two of us being together would be highly beneficial to my plans,"

"Your plans?" He asked carefully. "Should I open the blinds...?"

"No. I much prefer the dark. Reminds me of being out on the field," She moved even closer to Hifumi and nearly toppled him over, and placed a firm kiss on his lips.

"Mmmpfh?!" Hifumi tried to cry out in disbelief, having never kissed a girl before. She pressed her body up against his, letting him feel her minuscule breasts under the tight fabric and the muscles on her stomach that weren't shying away from his erection at all, if anything, she was pressing herself into it more. Once she finally pulled away, he was panting and saw how bits of of her hair were falling into her face. He slowly reached out and squeezed her breasts, feeling their roundness and how unobstructed they were in the outfit. Her nipples hardened in his hands and she squirmed around a bit, not unpleasantly.

"You are a virgin, are you not?" She asked after a time. Hifumi nodded. No sense in lying about that. Mukuro seemed to be considering something as she ran her hands slowly down his body. "Then I'll do something else first. Ease you into it I suppose. Then we can do whatever you want,"

"Mukuro-" He started, but she silenced him with a glare. Her hands slowly traveled down to his zipper and with one quick motion, she had pulled them down and revealed his large erection. "I-I think I should do something for you too. It's only my duty!"

"Alright," Mukuro didn't seem fond of that thought, but still she let him pull down the skimpy sailor top and squeeze on her breasts again, soon pulling the nearest one into his mouth and sucking on the nipple greedily. She placed a hand on his head. "I'll take care of you, I promise,"

Hifumi pulled the nipple out of his mouth at those words, seeing the shininess left from his saliva.

"Lay down some more," She commanded, and he did so, and soon she had pulled his erection out from his tight underwear and was sucking on it almost greedily, not looking at him but at something he couldn't make out. Her tongue was slow as she worked her way around his tip, on his slit, which made him shiver in great pleasure and felt a growing pressure.

"W-Wait," He tried to call out before she suddenly pulled her mouth away and a huge wave of semen erupted from him. Unable to help himself, he cried out and looked away, feeling as though he was on fire. He never understood why all of the great writers compared orgasming to be just as great as death, but he finally understood it then; laying there, breathing heavily with every inch of him burning hotly. "I'm sorry," He finally said after a time. "I...don't girls want to do more than that?"

Mukuro looked at him with those piercing purple eyes. They seemed like ice to him, or a galactic nebula.

"We can do as much as you want. We're both young, you even more. We can do it as many times as you like. As long as you know one thing about me," She moved closer to him, pushing some hair out of her face.

His breath caught in his throat as he smelled the rich thickness of her perfume. Could girls ever smell as good as that? "What?" He asked slowly.

She placed her hands on his chest. "I am a virgin too. And you cannot take that away from me, as it's up to someone else to not...make me one."

"Who?"

"You know."

Hifumi was silent.

"It's_ her_ will, and whatever _she_ says, I obey. She has a man picked out for me. It isn't you," Mukuro said calmly. "But we can still do anything else you want. Anything, and everything. Everything you've ever dreamed of but never thought you could do. With an offer like that, is that one thing really so important?"

Her skirt had ridden up again as she talked, her heels deliciously accenting her legs. Hifumi swallowed again as he realized she was purposefully doing that as she talked. He had sudden images of cat ears...leather boots...harem scarves...oh God.

"You can tell me anything. I can be anyone you want me to be. Just say the word," She looked away.

"Um...but you're not giving me this for free, are you? You're a girl. They always want stuff, right?" Hifumi asked.

"I just want your heart. What's in it, not your actual heart. There's a darkness in you, Hifumi-san. There's always been, you just needed that nudge in the right direction. And you got that nudge a few days ago," She explained levelly.

"Nobody knows what's inside," He trembled.

"_She_ does. _She_ told me everything. What you wrote in your journal. How upset you are at the Hope's Peak Ministers for kicking you off their council despite your ideas helping them. How jealous you are that that goody-two-shoes stole your woman. She told me all of it," Mukuro had the first emotion on her face she had all night; seemingly pure ecstasy. "She wants us together, Hifumi-san. And unlike the committee here, she will never take from you. Only give. She is a very generous person, my sister is. She loves you just as much as she does me," She drooled a bit.

"And what does she want...from me?" Hifumi moved back on the couch a bit, trying to get away from Mukuro. He had a wildly bizarre thought in his head suddenly that he wanted her to refer to him as 'Master' like she had earlier.

"Despair. Pure chaos. What you tasted that night you nearly tried to shoot Naegi-san. But in an even greater amount. She wants this entire community to be plunged into despair," Mukuro smiled mysteriously.

"What if I say no?" Hifumi ran a hand through his hair nervously. Mukuro sat up suddenly and gave a shrug, her breasts bouncing.

"Life goes on. I'll still continue to do what I need to do, and maybe you'll find another girl. Maybe that one girl will change her mind and move back here with you. But you will never go back to how you were before. You will always wonder what would've happened if you kept me. What I looked like with all my clothes off, what it would be like if I whispered into your ear or let you lick honey off me-"

"Stop," Hifumi trembled. "I don't want to hear that sort of thing anymore!"

"Honestly, I don't care if you reject me or not. The thought of your discomfort entices me. But what entices me even more is the fact that even if you get over all of the sexual things...you will still be left wondering what it would be like to join the other side. Always wondering if it was better or not. What it would feel like to taste true despair. So I'll ask you once more. Are we going to do this, or am I going home alone?" She stared straight into his eyes, making him shiver.

He never knew if he even had problems with that question or how long he thought it over; all he knew at that moment was how dark his tone sounded when he finally nodded and suggested awkwardly that they head to his bedroom.

Mukuro gave him a smile that made him shiver; a smile of pure despair.

"I am thrilled you picked me...Master," He shivered once again when she slowly took his hand and led him over to his bedroom, smiling all the way.

And just like that, Yamada Hifumi began his descent into despair, as was his destiny.


	20. Makoto 9: Hifumi's Corruption

**Author's Note: Sorry for the random spamming of triple-chapters this week. I don't normally do this, I don't like to do this, but this will be a very busy remainder of the month for me and I didn't want to leave you guys hanging.**

**That being said, happy early holidays and Merry early Christmas! I'll likely fully return sometime in early-January! **

**#########**

**Makoto 9; Hifumi's Corruption**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; August 25th, 1994**

* * *

Hifumi woke up the next morning feeling chilly; despite fall being a month away the mornings were starting to turn chilly. His whole body was chilled aside from the area below his waist, and looking at Mukuro sleeping next to him was enough to warm him up more. His eyes traced the outline of her thin body underneath that electric blue Playboy Bunny suit; she wore all of the fixings, even the heels and fishnets, in bed. Her back was facing him and he reached out and gave a sharp tug to the tiny fluffy tail just above her firm butt.

He could wake her up, if he wanted to, and even if she minded she wouldn't object. Even then she slept soundly despite the tail being pulled.

Hifumi finally got out of bed and started to change, as he still had to go to work despite the community's general uneasiness around him. Maybe it was just because he was good at his job. As he dressed, he turned his nose up after realizing the stink of the room. It smelt fine just that last night, why was it not now? Maybe he was used to his room smelling like that after years of being on his own, or perhaps he just wanted the association to be bad. He shivered and left the room, making Mukuro open her eyes the moment the door closed.

She rolled over onto her back and just stared up at the ceiling, feeling shivers on her body and aching in her gut. She had made the mistake of looking out the window that night as he took her-his head was inbetween her legs and he had nearly ripped her fragile fishnets with his great need and strong hands. He lapped up at her juices thirstily while moaning, and Mukuro randomly glanced out the window and blushed heavily, feeling a whole new wave of arousal wash over her.

Her sister was clearly keeping an eye on her, trying to fulfill her duty of being a good sister-to-the-bride. A bride defiled was a bride unwanted. Yet she was still allowed to dress like a slut and allow him to eat her out and take her in the ass. What kind of a man was her future fiancé? She continued to stare up at the ceiling for a long time.

* * *

Mukuro went to Leon's place later that morning to get the remainder of her things and finish moving into Hifumi's place; it was official by that point. Nobody was there when she arrived, as she anticipated, aside from Nagisa who was curled up in one corner, wearing ragged jeans and her old lacy cardigan with nothing under it pulled close to his body.

"Nagisa-chan?" She asked slowly, not receiving an answer. "Taro-chan?" Still no answer.

Mukuro just shrugged and continued to pack her things up into a box, feeling his judging blue eyes staring at her. "I'm not coming back, I just came here to get my things. I'm moving out to go live with another man,"

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You don't need me anymore. You have Leon-san and Kaede-san. They both want you, especially since she wants anything he does. Me leaving isn't my fault," She just had a few books and clothing changes in her box; her underwear was black and plain and durable and oh-so-different from what she normally wore when around Hifumi. "Nothing is ever my fault,"

Nagisa said nothing and continued to stare.

"Perhaps it's your fault. You said you wanted me and them, but you didn't. You abandoned me for that blind girl who sits on her porch strumming her koto and painting flowers. So this is all your fault. And maybe it's his fault too. I made myself look all pretty. I begged on my knees. I gave myself up for him. And he rejected me. Everyone rejected me..." She ran from the house in a flurry, dumping her belongings into her bag and jumping back onto her bike, pedaling at a breakneck speed for several blocks until she finally calmed down.

Her heart wouldn't stop hammering and her stomach roiled. She looked up at Hifumi's house and planted some. A laugh echoed deep within her soul and she felt it suddenly slip from her lips.

"Upupupupupu..."

She had to leave Hope's Peak soon. She needed to keep at least some of her sanity in tact.

* * *

Another council meeting was scheduled for a few days later, held in the same temple but with the walls separated at an even greater area to allow far more room than the first official meeting was. They sung the anthem again, though it was already routine by that point with many dry-eyes in comparison to last time.

A girl named Kiriko Nishizawa was made head of the Census Committee and she and four other girls instantly begun to keep track, hoping to have a list made up of everyone in Hope's Peak listed in order of family name, age, address, previous occupation, and house resident. Already the group was up to eight-hundred-fifteen people and counting.

The next vote was that each member of Hope's Peak Ministers would serve a yearly term on the council before being voted off and someone new would take their place.

The council then suggested Makoto be made officially the Minister of Defense, to roaring applause.

"I hope my job won't be too harsh on me...everyone here seems like good people and thus I don't want to catch anyone doing something they shouldn't be!" Makoto announced, making everyone cheer. "However I'd feel bad about just locking people away without a fair trial..so I think we should have at least five people fill the law committee spots so everyone can have a fair trial!"

Mukuro leaned her head on Hifumi's shoulder as the crowd around them eagerly elected volunteers; she ran her hand down his arm. She wore a tight elastic naughty nurse uniform in white with red trim and a matching eyepatch over one eye. She had zipped the zipper in the front dangerously low, her breasts in serious danger of falling out. Around her neck was a silver sparkly collar with 'Virgin' written on it.

"Do you think I'd be good at a job like that?" Hifumi mused, staring down at her.

"You don't seem like a law-maker type," She shrugged.

"You're right. Laws are meant to be broken!" He proclaimed just as someone near them happily suggested Kizakura for the law committee.

"Wait, he's not here," Kaede pouted. "Where could he be?"

"Who saw him last?" Someone else near the back asked.

"I did!" Ishimaru announced, standing up. "I saw him in an old car, traveling out of Hope's Peak! Now that I think about it, I should've stopped him. Asked him where he was going since it's only fair! Knowing our location, he likely is trying to take a break in Yamaguchi! Especially since he seemed in such high spirits!" He sat back down.

"We'd all love for Kizakura-san to be here, but he isn't," Makoto sighed. "So if there could be another nomination-"

"No!" Kaede suddenly stood up. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but Yamaguchi is fairly big. Even if he's on vacation, there's a chance he might get sick and can't make it back and we might not know!" She was fully dressed except for no shirt or even a bra under her faded blue overalls, a fact that made almost all of the men in the room drool over her.

"We'll just have to have hope that he'll make it back himself," Makoto smiled awkwardly as Kaede took a seat again, sighing and resting her head against Leon's shoulder. Her purple diamond engagement ring shone as Leon put his arm around her to bring her close and caught Makoto's eye.

The community decided on an understudy of sorts to take Kizakura's place until he returned; another middle-aged lawyer.

Yasuke quickly took to the podium and explained the new power plan was going quite well and that the power system should be fully up and running by September 5th or 6th. Miaya smiled in response from her new wheelchair.

Ishimaru came up next and asked for more potential members of the Burial Committee, their job was important but unpleasant and the more people they had the sooner it would be done. He introduced Hifumi as the current head, who stood up and bowed and just sat down quickly.

"Being around death suits you. It suits me too. That's why we're perfect for each other," Mukuro whispered into his ear using her usual monotone she was known for that he had grown intensely familiar with, if the growing bulge in his pants was any indication.

Kaito then got up and explained the community had a licensed doctor joining them who would work alongside Seiko and give her more training, which received the loudest applause of anything else said that night.

Makoto stood up again after him, clearing his throat. "That's the agenda for tonight...is there anything else we should do last-minute?" He looked around the room and saw Yasuhiro's face in the crowd, and Aoi's, and Chihiro's, and Leon's, and of course Sayaka's. They all looked tired and strained. Nobody mentioned anything about Junko Enoshima like they had been expecting, so Makoto allowed for the meeting to draw to a close.

"The meeting was really good tonight, Minister!" Kiriko, a cute girl with a big flouncy skirt and two pink dumplings in her hair, praised afterwards. Makoto shyly glanced around to see if perhaps Chihiro was around, but it was just him. He laughed awkwardly and walked off.

It was only for a year, but Makoto didn't feel very confident in his abilities as a law-maker. He wasn't sure if he could be a good Minister of Justice.

But all he could really do from that point on was to try.

* * *

Makoto, Sayaka, Chihiro, and Aoi all decided to walk back together, nearing the center of town. Sayaka shivered and hugged herself, surprised she hadn't seen her breath yet.

"It's quite chilly out..." She said.

Chihiro nodded, also feeling cold. The good thing about Hiroshima were the mild winters, but that didn't mean the temperature remained comfortable all year around. At least the heat was starting to settle and that meant he could finally put the awful summer behind him. He was sure the others all felt the same in that regard.

"I was surprised by how many people wanted Kizakura-san to help me out," Makoto said.

_Yes, he was very popular in this community before. He'll be sorely missed, as will Kirigiri-san and Gonta-san. Just the facts of life,_ Chihiro wrote quickly.

Aoi looked saddened. "I wonder though...what if everyone thinks they truly left the community for good? To go join the west?"

_I hate to admit it, but people probably will be suspicious. They'll likely think they left for one reason or another to go join the other side,_ Chihiro made sure the other three had read it before he flicked open his match and burned the note away into ashes.

"That's a real possibility..." Makoto sighed.

"The next official community meeting, we'll likely have to address that issue. I think we should plan to have it...the fifteenth?" Sayaka suggested, and everyone nodded.

_It'll be perfect timing, as the power would've been on for several weeks by that point._ Chihiro added.

"I should be off. I have a big day tomorrow, Kyoko-san is off and I want to see her part of the way," Aoi explained.

"Aren't you worried about being safe?" Makoto asked.

"Nah, I can protect myself. And so can she. She's very mentally strong, you know, but not too shabby physically either. She can clear a track field in minutes! I suppose that's why she seemed so calm when I brought it up with her the other day," She began. "She lived quite a sheltered upbringing and wasn't even allowed to have a telephone if you can believe it. Her grandfather always wanted to maintain her innocence as well as keeping her mind sharp. She went to an all-girls' school prior to all of this and is extremely naive about boys as a result,"

"Well, if she was bi like me, she wouldn't have anything to worry about," Sayaka teased.

"Bye? By? I don't get it," Makoto asked in confusion, making the girls snicker.

"Bi just means you're okay with either gender," She took his hands. "But you're not going to start enacting laws about that sort of thing with the other guys of the council, right? Our current lifestyle is already very limited,"

Makoto shook his head. "Those sorts of things don't matter to me,"

"She took it quite well when I told her. She explained she always wondered what her place here in Hope's Peak was and I guess she soon realized she was a better asset to us from the outside." Aoi suddenly looked uncomfortable and glanced away. "She also said that she'd try everything in her power to make it back alive,"

Kyoko had only told Aoi that she intended to infiltrate the group with a secret knife she had hidden literally up her sleeve, anticipating she would get close enough to kill Junko. She had assumed with her gone, the rest of the community would just fall apart. She didn't listen to Aoi's protests and she hadn't told the remainder of the council as she didn't think the men especially would take it well.

"I'm going now. Goodnight!" Aoi bowed nicely before slipping her hands into her jacket pockets and walking off.

"She looks older," Makoto said in surprise.

_All of us do,_ Chihiro offered the paper to them.

"Pregnancy does that to a person," Sayaka commented, not elaborating on what she meant.

* * *

Makoto was on his way to help out with the solar panels when he caught sight of Aoi and Kyoko walking together, bikes next to them. He waved out to them and they both stopped, Kyoko walking over to him. He never thought she would look prettier; a green silk blouse with a matching scarf tying her hair back with a heavy jean jacket and bleached-out jeans. A red backpack was behind her.

"Morning, Naegi-san," She greeted politely with a bow that he returned.

"Heading off on an adventure?" He teased, and she nodded.

"You never saw me," She gave a smirk when he nodded.

"Be careful. Get back safe,"

"I fully intend to. I refuse to make the same mistake my parents made," The wind blew past them and in the late-summer sun, he finally placed her familiar features.

His father had received the belongings of Mr. Jin Kirigiri when he had died in the ambulance; just a wallet. The family had felt squeamish going through it, but one picture was clearly the centerpiece of the whole wallet; Jin, the silver-haired woman standing next to him happily; clearly Mrs. Kirigiri, and a matching monochrome daughter looking stiffly away with her arms crossed.

She had aged some in comparison to that picture, but there was still no doubt as to who she was. Her parents had been Patient Zero. And her parents had literally died on his doorstep.

"Take care of Maizono-san. And go easy on your defense job. I don't want to come back here and find half the buildings blown up," Kyoko teased.

"I promise. You don't have to worry about me!"

She looked at him for a few seconds before stepping closer and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. He blushed lightly in surprise as he felt her leather-gloved hand touch his shoulder. "It's a kiss for good luck,"

"Oh,"

"But some people say one has to do it twice for it to work," They kissed once more; Makoto closing his eyes and Kyoko leaning in closer. It was deep and soon they pulled away, Kyoko getting back on her bicycle. "Maizono-san is a lucky girl. I'm sad I'll miss your wedding. You two have fun, alright?"

Makoto bowed to the two girls as they biked off together into the distance.

* * *

Aoi returned two days later with the confession that after her own trip was up, she cried some watching Kyoko bike away until she was a speck on the horizon. She had also brought with her a tiny Retriever puppy she had found terrified and curled-up in a storm drain that she was able to lure out with dog food. Seiko absolutely went nuts over the puppy and learned the puppy was a female purebred and in a year or two when she was more mature, Blavatsky would be glad to meet her. Yasuhiro instantly named her 'Helena' and the news was all anyone talked about for the day, hailing Aoi as a heroine of sorts.

Nobody even questioned what Aoi was doing so far away from Hope's Peak, but that wasn't important in the community's eyes.

Only Makoto could remember the morning he saw the two about to head out on their bikes, because nobody in Hope's Peak ever saw Kyoko Kirigiri ever again.

* * *

Venus was shining high up in the sky when Chihiro, Makoto, Kaito, and Leon all headed down to Gonta's house late in the evening to see him off. They sat on his porch steps then, watching Gonta play croquet with himself.

"Thank goodness we don't have to hypnotize him. I don't think I could do something like that again," Makoto whispered, and Kaito nodded in agreement.

"Gonta-kun! It's time for you to go!" Kaito called out, and Gonta hurried over.

"Go? Go where? Gonta never go anywhere after dark. Dark is when Gonta sleeps, he does! Bugs sleep at night and so does Gonta!" He was smiling at first before suddenly frowning. "Go...go south-west? That time?"

"Yes, Gonta-kun," Kaito said.

"On the road...sleep at day. Walk at night. And see the elephant," He looked over at Chihiro, who simply nodded.

"Be careful," Leon handed Gonta his bag.

"Gonta be careful! Gonta always very careful!" He said proudly, though his voice was still twinged with sadness. He looked over at Chihiro. "Chihiro-kun...does Gonta really have to do this?"

Chihiro nodded and offered him a sad smile.

"Alright..."

"Just stay on the big highway once Kaito-san drops you off. He'll drive you to the end of it with his motorcycle," Leon explained.

Gonta glanced up at his house. "Will this house still be Gonta's when he comes back? Gonta loves his house," He asked Chihiro, who nodded vigorously. "Alright, Gonta's ready," He walked over to where Kaito was and got on the back of it, and Kaito sat in the front, kicking the cycle to life and driving off quickly. The three men stared at it as it faded into the distance.

"That's that," Leon commented, and Makoto nodded. "You know that if he never comes back, we'll all be living with this decision for the rest of our lives,"

"Nobody will more than Fujisaki-san though," Makoto mumbled. They both turned back to look at Chihiro, who was staring at some crickets being kept in a terrarium. His hands were in his pockets. "I'd say something, but...he probably wants to be alone right now,"

"Yeah...Fujisaki-san more than any of us," Leon started to walk off. "Sorry man, I gotta go. All of these bugs are givin' me the creeps,"

Makoto glanced back at Chihiro once more before following after Leon.

That night, Kaito and Maki found Chihiro curled up asleep on Gonta's porch steps, a troubled expression on his face.

"He's cold to the touch. Who knows how long he was out here for," Maki sighed. Kaito simply scooped him up and started to carry Chihiro back on his back. "...He really cares about him a lot, huh?"

"Yeah. Those two have probably the strongest bond I've ever seen in my life," Kaito agreed softly.

* * *

Sayaka went to visit the newly-redesigned clinic the next day, feeling nervously giddy. Seiko and Miaya and Yasuke all still worked there, as well as a nurse-in-training and the new doctor. she nervously placed a hand on her stomach as she waited, Seiko soon arriving to take care of her.

"How...is the baby?" Seiko asked in her stilted voice. "That's why...here, right?"

Sayaka nodded slowly. "I haven't come for any prenatal care...and I'm a bit nervous. How can I really tell if my child is alright? It's been a rough summer, for all of us, and the stress..." She soon burst into tears.

"Don't worry..." Seiko sighed. "Baby...is likely alright. I've been...studying...prenatal care...because at Hope's Peak...babies are...most important,"

"So far I'm the only pregnant woman though,"

"There'll be others! Soon!" The nurse smiled eagerly, handing Seiko her kit.

"Let's just do...simple checkup for now," Seiko suggested, and Sayaka nodded and sat still. First came all of the questions about her family's medical history, then the nurse left to write some notes down and make an assessment. Seiko glanced at Sayaka. "Be happy...only pregnant woman so far. I...I want one of my own...tried a few times with blacksmith, but...he has a girlfriend now...candy-maker,"

"A confectioner?" Sayaka asked, wondering if that was the proper term. Seiko nodded. "Well...it's not like the community is entirely devoid of men. You'll find someone!"

The nurse came back in. "Minister Maizono, everything seems to be in order here," She bowed a bit. "From the looks of things, you'll be due...around early-January. Is that right?"

Sayaka nodded.

"Eating healthy?"

"Yes,"

"Nausea?"

"I had some at first, but not anymore,"

"Oh, that's nice! Getting exercise?"

"I always try to. I like riding my bike around," Sayaka blushed a bit.

"I say about November 15th, you should start limiting your bike rides. No bikes or motorcycles or anything like that. But it'll be too rainy and chilly around here for that anyway," The nurse shrugged.

"No smoking or drinking...did you ever?" Seiko asked, and Sayaka shook her head. "We...put you on a nutrient supplement. Pills. Available at the drugstore..."

"That sounds a bit funny now," Sayaka laughed.

"First child...right? So no prior abortion or anything...?"

She suppressed a shiver at her sudden nightmare memory. "First child..." She eventually answered.

"Everything...in order..." Seiko bowed a bit.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" The nurse gasped and ran out of the room, coming back with a pamphlet in her hands and a button. "Normally you call the hospital and they're given within the first few weeks of your announcement, but better late than never, you know?"

Sayaka took the items from her and bit her lip, suppressing her tears at the sight of the pastel-coloured button that happily announced 'I'm Expecting!' One wore that button and had strangers carry their items around for them or could always find a seat on the train, even if they weren't showing yet. There were no more trains or buses to ride on anymore, and everyone in the community already knew that she was pregnant. The pamphlet just had tips about how to have a healthy pregnancy; at least that would be useful.

"Don't hesitate to come see us...if anything happens...good or bad...alright?" Seiko reminded her as Sayaka nodded again.

"A pleasure to help you!" The nurse bowed. "See you later, Minister Maizono!"

Sayaka headed out into the sunny afternoon, clutching the items close to her chest. She bit her lip again as she looked at the button. She wouldn't cry over it. The old world where those things were useful might've been gone, but being pregnant was still a good thing, right?

* * *

A thousand more people had moved into the town and got quickly settled in by the end of the month. Hope's Peak no longer seemed so empty.

* * *

On the evening of the thirtieth, Mukuro stood in the rec-room of Hifumi's house and just stared at him, curious. Lately Hifumi had seemed almost obsessed, darkly so, with certain things. He had a look in his eyes Mukuro didn't quite like that she easily placed as the shadow of despair, no doubt the result of her sister's influence. When he got like that, his one obsession was with killing the council members in any way possible, especially Makoto Naegi and Sayaka Maizono.

He used the air-hockey table as a makeshift desk, a huge array of tools spread out in front of him. Also spread out in front of him was a small book open up to a large diagram, which he'd look at from time to time.

"Why don't you go make me a sandwich? I don't think you should be down here," Hifumi finally spoke up, failing to hide his nervous and shaky tone.

"Why?" Mukuro asked, instead coming closer. He was working on a few sticks of dynamite.

"This dynamite is really old, but I'm not sure how old. One wrong move and we'll all explode!" He cried.

That wouldn't happen, not unless her sister willed it to. And she had promised her in her dreams that she wouldn't, that the dynamite was specifically for the council and not them. Anything Junko willed, tended to happen, and Mukuro was sworn to trust her anyway.

"Well, maybe I could help." She finally offered, but he shook his head at her.

"Sandwich now, please. And be quiet. You don't know this stuff,"

She stared at him._ I was a soldier!_ She nearly bit back before turning on her heel and heading up the stairs. She soon returned with a small plate of a cold vegetable sandwich and chips, placing it on the edge of the hockey-table.

Mukuro then stood there and silently watched, leaning over slightly. She had on a green and white barmaid's dress that was extremely low-cut with a tiny skirt. She was leaning over enough for Hifumi to see down it, with a tiny green bow in her hair. It didn't matter at that point though, since whenever he was like this, he barely seemed to notice anything about her.

As he worked, she found her thoughts wandering to when she visited Nagisa-Taro-the previous day. Kaede hadn't been very pleased to see her even though she hid it. She could just tell because she explained that Nagisa had slipped back a bit and subtly blamed her for it. Not like Mukuro really cared. In just a few days, her and Hifumi would be gone from the community forever, the council members dead and Mukuro's own dark destiny to be fulfilled.

She shivered and had a sudden thought: _Oh dynamite, just blow us all up right now and spare me from that!_

Hifumi sighed a bit and wiped the sweat off his brow, leaning back. Mukuro looked over at him.

"Done?" She questioned.

"Yes. Does it look like it'll work?" He offered it to her, but she shook her head.

"Plenty of time to figure that out later," He was finally back to normal, or at least as normal as Hifumi could be considered, shown by him looking slowly up and down her body. "Would you like to do something to celebrate? Is there anything you'd like to do that we haven't yet?"

Hifumi thought about it. "Well, I've always wanted to do a supermodel, but I never had the chance to before,"

"Say no more," Mukuro started to walk up the stairs to his room, making sure he got to look up her tiny skirt to see her silky pink peekaboo panties. She arrived at his room first and glanced around; cutting up part of her schoolgirl cosplay to make something more fashionable. The only supermodel she had ever known was her sister, so hopefully that would suffice. She pulled one of her blonde wigs into pigtails and secured them with cute hair-clips and pulled herself into the outfit. She curled and lengthened her eyelashes and also put bright pink lipstick on. She then covered up her unsightly Fenrir tattoo with some pale foundation-Junko didn't have one of _those_, after all.

She then placed the wig on her head and winced as her long fake nails got tangled in the strands, tugging them out. She ran her hands through the locks slower instead, silently marveling at how fluffy and bouncy her hair was. She had never had long hair before as it was considered to be an aversion in the field, yet now she understood the appeal of it.

Did Leon like long hair?

"Look at you! You look just like a professional fashionista!" Hifumi praised, walking in.

"You like this, huh? Well, let's not waste any more time. What next?" Mukuro asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Hifumi gasped.

"No! Not when you're like this! The whole point of a supermodel's appeal isn't just how she looks, it's how she acts! She's meant to be bubbly and perky and friendly! Not cold and monotone!" He scolded, and Mukuro rolled her eyes in displeasure before she sighed.

"Like, hiiii! I'm Enoshima Junko-chan, nice to meet you!" She flashed him a peace-sign and a giant grin, hoping that would be enough.

"Nice to meet you too, gyaru-chan!" He beamed, drooling a bit.

"Like, come on! I have an actual name, don't be out here actin' like I'm a piece of plastic!" Mukuro groaned, playing with her hair. "So, are we gonna do this or not? How you wanna take me?"

"Ummm...me in you from behind again? I like doing that..." He admitted, and Mukuro nodded. Within a second, she had crawled onto his bed on all fours, her blouse falling open further to reveal a lacy pink bra, not like her shirt originally left anything to the imagination anyway.

Hifumi crawled after her and pulled her skirt up, pulling down her panties and after a few seconds, thrusting it slowly into her anus. She bit her lip slightly as he started to thrust roughly. The bed bounced to match their motions.

"Be careful there! Don't act like I'm made of glass! If you wanna be rough, my body can handle it!" She called back at him, and Hifumi took her hint and thrusted harder, yanking on her hair. She gasped that time, her head falling back. She felt her fluids start to drip down her legs and she moaned a bit at the thought of Junko being upset with her for ruining the sacred name and image of not just supermodels, but her specifically.

Hifumi thrust into her for a while longer before her juices suddenly came a bit faster, then he filled her up. She collapsed onto the bed, feeling his semen start to leak out of her anal opening. She breathed heavily.

"That was wonderful. Thank you for giving me that opportunity, gyaru-chan!" He beamed, and Mukuro flashed him a weak peace-sign.

"My pleasure! Just don't start spreadin' this 'round. I don't want anyone thinkin' I'm super easy, ya know?" She rolled over onto her back.

* * *

That night, Hifumi headed back down to the rec room and picked up the project he was working on earlier; it was covered up with a shoebox lid. Inside was an old Walke-Talkie set with its back replaced with nine sticks of dynamite wired up. The book was still left open to a page that read: 'Entrepreneur Contest 3rd Place Winner; 1987! Yamaguchi Hikari-san. Say the word and ring this bell up to twelve blocks away! Even during rush hour!' The Walkie-Talkie in the diagram was hooked up to a doorbell.

Hifumi hid the project in an old cupboard of his house and rejoined Mukuro, who was still running her manicured hands through her pigtails. "What did Akamatsu-sama say to you the other day?" He asked curiously.

"Ugh, boring stuff I didn't care about," She waved her hand dismissively. "She invited me to her and Kuwata-san's wedding though...ain't that funny? She must hate my guts and yet she still invites me to the happiest day of her life. She wants me to be a bridesmaid,"

"Oh? When's the wedding? Did she say?" Hifumi asked, leaning closer to her.

"I dunno...September 2nd, I think? She wanted to have it in a few days since it's not like we got anything else to do. And all the supplies are just, like, lyin' around for anyone to take," Mukuro rolled her eyes. "Think it's gonna be a joint thing. Both them and Naegi-san and Maizono-san. All of the Ministers are invited, and a few other people too,"

"All of them?" His eyes practically lit up. "Sorry, when was it again? I already forgot,"

"September 2nd," Mukuro looked away from him.

September 2nd. Only a few days away. The happiest day of their lives. Junko always said that the best kind of despair came right after tasting something hopeful. Neither could exist without the other, and what could cause greater despair than destroying such a hopeful scene? He could almost smell the gunpowder from the explosion in the air.

September 2nd.


	21. Leon 4: Wedding Plans

_Walk a thin line between hope and despair._  
_Running from the truth but it's already here._  
_Told so many lies, I dunno if they can find me._  
_Only one life to live, so choose wisely._  
_Heads or tails? Do you even know what side you're on?_  
_Does it really matter if it's on the same coin?_  
_If you wanna achieve, you gotta believe._  
_The time: right now. There's the door, here's the keys._  
_The search is so very long, we let it fade away._  
_There's a ray of hope beyond despair._  
_Move on, look for the truth in this world._

**Part 5; Betrayal; August 31st-September 7th, 1994**

**Leon 4: Wedding Plans**

**####**

**Hiroshima; August 31st, 1994**

* * *

On the last day of August, Leon and Nagisa sat outside the front of their house, both drinking warm sodas. One could have anything they wanted to drink ever, as long as they didn't mind it being warm and also as long as it came in a can. Luckily, most drinks did so they didn't have much to worry about there. Kaede was trying to figure out how to quietly mow the lawn so nobody else would be disturbed. She was upset earlier and told Leon Mukuro had come over the other day, seemingly wanting to check on Nagisa, still referring to him as Taro.

"Well?" Leon had asked.

"I turned her away, but...I still felt bad about it. Against my better judgement, I...invited her to our wedding," She blushed.

"You did what?!"

"Invited her to our wedding to be a bridesmaid!" Kaede repeated. "Yes, Mukuro-chan is...off-it, just a bit, but I can't help but think it's because this community has been so weary for her. She's not a bad person, but she's...different,"

Leon nodded, having to agree with that. When she begged him on her knees to sleep with her, she seemed possessed by something else, something evil. Not like her usual self at all.

After that piece of information, Kaede had walked out into the yard to try and work the mower, leaving Leon alone with Nagisa.

"You know, the doctors all say we can eat fish again when the waters clear up. When we don't have to boil the water to use it anymore," Nagisa said randomly, bouncing a colourful rubber bouncy ball on the sidewalk. "I like the doctors here, even if they_ are_ grown-ups. Big Sister Miaya acts like a child and Big Brother Yasuke secretly sews stuffed animals for her. He made that stuffed pink rabbit she pretends to talk through,"

Leon continued to listen, staring straight ahead.

"He wants to do it with her, but is afraid her body can't handle it because of her disability. But I think they can. She's not paralyzed, as long as she is watched all of the time I think they can," He took a swig from his soda.

He almost wanted to ask Nagisa why Yasuke was discussing such a personal subject with a twelve-year-old boy, only to stop himself. Yasuke wouldn't have been, of course, Nagisa just seemed to know things. His eyes seemed duller in the sun and Leon found himself wondering if Nagisa was about to enter another 'trance' as he dubbed them.

"How's your Mukuro-mama? I was told she came to visit the other day to see you," Leon tried. The ball was still bouncing hard on the pavement.

"She still likes to call me Taro-chan," Nagisa said. "I don't know. She's off. Bad. Something about about both her and Big Brother Hifumi."

"Are they not happy together?" Leon questioned.

"They think she wants them, that they'll be welcomed back to her with open arms. They don't realizes they're adults, so they have to be stupid. She doesn't want them, she's just using them,"

"She?"

Nagisa just nodded.

"They want to try and go west," He continued after a time. "And Mukuro-mama wants you to think it's your fault for driving her away, but in reality, she did that on purpose. She did exactly what she was told to do, because she is trying to rub away her self-identity. Her self-worth. Take everything away from her until she is just a literal slave for her. Mukuro-mama purposefully waited until you loved Kaede-mama too much so you'd turn her away,"

"Nagisa-chan-" Leon tried.

"She still calls me Taro-chan,"

"Should I call you that then?"

"No," Nagisa suddenly stared at Leon, trembling. "Please don't ever call me that,"

"Do you miss your Mukuro-mama?" Leon asked instead.

"She's dead." Nagisa said. "I have you and Kaede-mama so I'm not lonely," He shrugged. "But...probably not for long. You two will die and so will my friends, we'll all die and it'll all because of her!" He suddenly cried.

"Hold on, who's going to die? The council-"

"The council is stupid. She laughs at your council, you know. She thinks it's stupid and archaic. She wants nothing more than to watch it fall, and she'll do anything to achieve that goal," He threw the ball up too high and it sailed past his head and merrily rolled down the street. "I dropped my ball," He stood up and ran after it, leaving Leon to sit there in mute terror.

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Mukuro called out as she walked into the large house shared by Kaito, Maki, Chihiro, and Aoi. Due to the large amount of space in the living room, Kaede told her the reception would be held there. Well, Mukuro wasn't going to be attending the reception, but it was still useful information. There weren't any bicycles or motorcycles parked in front of the house, but that didn't mean anything. What if that deaf-dumb man was still there? Then you could scream at the top of your lungs until you choked and he still wouldn't know you were there.

She stepped inside more, carefully slipping her shoes off and balancing her bag of groceries carefully. She didn't hear anything. Fujisaki likely made all kinds of noise unknowingly. She checked the blue twin bedroom; then the pink, then the master's. All empty. She went back into the blue bedroom, finding the childish decorations all still left behind untouched. A giant computer system was set up at the desk and Mukuro wandered over curiously, knowing it worked because of their generator. Colourful floppy discs were spread around and so were several sheets of paper that must've been his end of certain conversations. She found the idea of someone who could only talk solely by paper fascinating and skimmed through a few.

_Making a community is a two-way street. Many good things but also quite a few bad._

_Money is still seen as being worthless, but we need some sort of way to measure worth of goods and services just like before. Would it be too archaic to return to a trading system at least temporarily? Well, maybe nobody would object so long as we're not paying our rent with buckets of urine._

_With Makoto-san as Minister of Justice, how much longer until people start asking for him to sentence people to death? Just thinking about it makes me ill. I wouldn't even wish that on the guys who attacked me and berated me and threw their food at me. I still have nightmares over that...but it's likely a question on somebody's mind. They might even ask me; O Prime Minister in all of your wisdom, do you see fit to hang these people in the square today?_

Mukuro then left, not seeing anything else of interest and headed back downstairs to scope out the rest of the residence.

The living room was easily the largest room in the house, with a massive floor-space that even featured a fireplace tucked into one corner. A large window took up one wall near the door, offering no privacy. A big bookshelf made from wood was near the television set and three couches and four chairs were neatly arranged around the room. A nicely-knit rug was thrown onto the floor and peaceful paintings littered the walls. It was almost like a painting itself.

She quickly thought of an excuse in case she was caught; her groceries were part of the excuse. _I just came here to see if Harukawa-san was home. Since we're both going to be bridesmaids I thought we'd look at some dresses in town,_

Harukawa might not believe it, but the other three were extremely trusting so they likely would.

Still, the ideal plan was to not get caught, and thus she began to work quickly. Underneath her lining of groceries that were mainly pairs of tights, bracelets, and frosting cans was the deadly shoebox. The best place to put it would be somewhere that would remain undisturbed throughout the reception, but where?

Mukuro glanced around and found a small closet across from the window and opened it up, sifting through the winter-gear. None of it belonged to any of the residents in the house, which meant it would likely never be touched. The perfect place.

"Would it still work in a closet? Wouldn't the door muffle the blast?" Hifumi had asked her nervously earlier.

"I used to work with explosive devices just like this one. This one is potent enough that when it explodes, it will take out their entire house and most of the surrounding countryside. If I can't find a closet, don't worry. There are plenty of other places," She had reassured him.

"Right, I keep forgetting you were a soldier..." He looked away before glancing back with that same darkness in his eyes. "The blast will take out that whole house, hm? That means all seven of those goody-goody Ministers will be killed too, and their friends as well...! Seven and possibly even more all in one blast! Like the political pieces of scum that they are!"

Mukuro hid the box gently underneath a few scarves and other pairs of shoes, slipping out away from the house. She balanced her grocery bag on her arm and started pedaling away on her bike, trying to ignore her shivers. This was what she wanted, was it not? To bring the community to their knees, to make them fall into despair, to destroy their happiness, all for the sake of her glorious sister?

Then why did she want to rush right back into the house and rip the dynamite out of the Walkie-Talkie? In a world where so many had already died...to take the lives of seven more...seven brilliant minds. No, more than that, as they had invited a few non-council members to attend and of course Kaede wasn't a Minister at all.

As she pedaled, she suddenly gasped and gripped the handles, forcing herself into a skidded stop that nearly threw herself off the bike. There was sudden, blinding white that was cold and slimy and horrid. She couldn't see or hear or feel or talk; she was nothing. Then the whiteness turned to blackness and then into green. She bit her lip as she suddenly felt that same coldness envelop her, then insert itself into her, making her shiver. She then nearly fell off her bike again, gripping the handlebars so hard her knuckles turned white.

When she finally regained control of her senses, she found herself outside of a drive-in movie theater, blinking a bit. She was several miles away from where she was originally, nearly on the edge of town. The posters had faded and she curiously walked around her surroundings, keeping her guard up. Something felt strange.

"Hello?" She called out, walking under the large screen and speakers. She heard the cracking of their sturdy wires fail them and in a flash, she had jumped out of the way and crouched on the hood of a broken-down car, watching the speakers heavily clunk to the ground. Almost like a dead body. "Still trying to kill me?"

"Big Sister! Big Sister!" Her voice poured out from the speakers, making Mukuro look over at them. "Big Sister, my dear older sister, the one of whom I am so fond of...won't you give me the great pleasure of seeing your dead corpse at least once?"

"Not yet," Mukuro smiled. Was this a personality change of hers? Her inflections felt...different. Maybe there was nobody even there at all and she had finally gone as crazy as Junko. Wouldn't that be something?

"I'm not very happy with you! You're being stupid! You did nothing but play their games! I thought a tough and gross guerrilla fighter like you would be faster on her feet!" The voice sighed dramatically. "But there's still hope for you yet. You may be stupid and ugly, but your skills came in use here. Tell Hifumi-kun to go to the amphitheater and stay there until tomorrow night. Like, until the reception I guess. After that, you two can join me. I promise there'll be great presents for you both!"

"The reception...what about the ceremony? I'm a bridesmaid," Mukuro questioned.

The voice groaned. "Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, huh? Good thing that's going to change very soon!~ I guess you can go attend the ceremony. But then you gotta leave! Say you have to wash your greasy hair or something. Just say something and bolt!"

Mukuro nodded, thinking of her own dark wedding. She had sudden fantasies of wedding dresses in black and red and purple and blue...blood and bruises and corpses and death. She was stupid, but she was done playing their hopeful games. She'd kill them all and then Junko would reward her gratefully. Junko always took care of her.

She waited for the speakers to say more, and waited for a great long time until she figured they were at last silent. Trembling from simultaneous terror and arousal, she crawled back onto her bike and started to pedal off. She had to meet up with Hifumi again and tell her of Junko's plan for them.

As she left, she heard the voice speak out to her once again: "Like, I totally know that you can do this! You may be my gross older sister, but every so often you can be useful!"

Mukuro didn't stop heavily pedaling until she reached Hifumi's house, only a bit out of breath. Her cheeks felt warm as she stared up at him.

"What happened?" He asked, seeing the look in her eyes.

"The amphitheater. We both have to go there tomorrow," She responded blankly as she got off her bike.

"Aren't you a bridesmaid?"

"She'll let me attend the ceremony. She is a very generous person," She put her hand on his shoulder. "But we need to prepare to leave. I think they suspect us and might try to put us on trial or something. So we need to pack up now,"

"And go to _her_?" Hifumi's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Not until after the wedding. Until then we will hide,"

"Maybe I don't want to do this anymore. Maybe I just want everything to be normal again," Hifumi all but whimpered, and Mukuro tightened her grip on his shoulder.

"It's far too late for that," She matched his tone.

* * *

In the candlelit parlor of Makoto and Sayaka's place, all seven Hope's Peak Ministers were accounted for, alongside Kaede, and all of them were poring over old magazines in the dim light while Kaito passed them all sake glasses.

"Can you believe it? I can't. It's rare enough to have just one wedding in your life, but two?! On the same day?! For your best friends?! That's the best kind of luck there is!" He exclaimed. "And the Prime Minister gets to speak at the wedding as well!"

Chihiro blushed and looked away, feeling red-faced already from the alcohol.

"Oh, stop, you're embarrassing him," Sayaka teased.

"Hey, did you guys decide on where you wanted the actual ceremony to be?" Aoi asked curiously.

"The temple in town we hold town meetings at. Makoto-kun and I want to have more of a traditional wedding and we even found a Shinto priest in town who can wed us!" She blushed.

"We're getting married in the same temple, but ours is going to be a Western-style wedding. No more stuffy kimono for me!" Leon declared, making Kaede laugh. "And I asked Yasuhiro-san to marry us off!"

"I'm just worried the marriage won't be official as none of us got our records from the hospital before we left our cities. We won't be able to officially register ourselves as being married," Makoto's shoulders slumped.

"I can get really good copies made!" Yasuhiro announced.

"Do things like that really matter as much anymore? I mean, nobody's really around to keep official track of things like that," Kaede said. "I'm more excited over what song I'll walk down the aisle to,"

"And then of course, the reception will be at my place!" Kaito laughed.

"It's the only house big enough!" Aoi added before she suddenly stood up. "Please excuse me,"

"I would love to walk down the aisle to Clair de Lune. It was one of the first things I learned to play on the piano. I'll play a bit at the reception if you'd guys like!" Kaede continued.

"Sorry, we don't have a piano. But maybe we could get one," Kaito thought about it.

"Any other songs?" Leon asked, and Kaede thought about it.

"I don't know...I've never really thought much about it. My first wedding was a very stiff affair. I think the songs I walked down the aisle to were just traditional Western wedding songs. My dress wasn't even white,"

"Has the guest list been finalized?" Yasuhiro asked, and Sayaka nodded.

"Just the council and the bridesmaids...but...I kinda wanted to invite those little kids who call themselves Warriors of Hope. Some of them grew very close to their leaders during their travels and I think it's a sweet idea,"

"No wedding is complete without little kids!" Kaede nodded in agreement.

_Hopefully they're old enough now that they'll know to remain quiet during the reception,_ Chihiro wrote before glancing around. Aoi was still missing; where was she? He managed to excuse himself as well and went looking for her.

He found her sitting with her back against the hallway wall, staring into the toilet room. Chihiro paused and just looked at her.

_Are you feeling sick?_ He jotted down and showed to her.

"No..." Aoi sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"

He nodded and moved over closer to her. Tears rimmed her eyes.

"I...I've been feeling sick lately, yeah. But not because I'm actually sick. I think that I'm...expecting," She sighed and looked away from him. Chihiro gently pulled on her arm to make her look over. "The child is yours, I just know it is..."

His jaw dropped and he took his hands off her.

_Do the others know?_ He wrote shakily, trembling. She shook her head.

"I'm afraid of telling even Sayaka-san...because...what if the baby is born disabled? I know that's a mean thought but you're having it too! I would feel like I let the community down..." She looked down at the ground. "But I can't just get rid of it. Babies are important and we both survived the crazies, so surely our child has a chance!"

Chihiro just winced. This was his fault, it was obvious. He was irresponsible and now they both had to deal with the fact their child might have disabilities in a world that couldn't help them. He didn't want any part of this and he felt Aoi didn't either.

After they sat there in silence for a while, Aoi stood up and helped Chihiro up gently. "I'll tell them all myself. After the wedding. Like, the next day or something. No sense in taking the spotlight off their big day, you know?" She smiled. "And...surely the girls would understand, at least,"

Chihiro just nodded slowly and followed her back to the living room and took their seats again, where everyone were still miraculously on the subject of aisle songs.

"Hey, I've got a great one! Why don't you walk down the aisle to this, Kaede-chan?" Leon teased and then begun to sing:

"I see you in the corner of the room there,

Sitting there with that glitter in your hair,

Crying big tears into your food 'cuz he hit ya again

Lemme tell ya some advice my dear

If you know what's good for ya, you'd dump that no-good

And find yourself a real man like myself

Honey, all I'm saying is;

Break up with your man and get with me, girl

Cuz that man of yours just ain't good for ya!

He ain't no good for you, he ain't no good for you,

He just ain't no good for ya!" He finished and everyone laughed.

"They used to play that on the radio everywhere!" Sayaka sighed happily.

"Seems like an odd choice for a wedding though," Makoto said.

"Why did you invite that Ikusaba woman anyway? I don't like to judge people but she gives me the creeps, man!" Yasuhiro questioned Kaede.

"She's still my friend and we traveled together. I just feel more sorry for her than anything else. The community isolated her even before all of this. Maybe attending such an event will help get her out of her shell," Kaede suggested.

"Yeah, and what about Hifumi-san? Are we inviting him too?" Aoi demanded, subconsciously putting a hand on her stomach. The two couples shook their heads.

"Hifumi-san...is a special case," Makoto said. "She might try to bring him but our wedding rules are very strict about those sorts of things...we won't invite him but maybe we can still make a favor bag for him or something. Get him a nice console perhaps,"

Sayaka nodded. "I don't think it was ever meant to be this way..."

On that happy note, the group started to disassemble and get ready for the big day they had tomorrow. Sayaka started to put away the magazines.

"Marriage...can you believe it? Me?" She asked Makoto dreamily. "And I'm getting married to the man that I love,"

"As opposed to what?" Makoto questioned, but she shook her head. She had a sudden memory crop up of Shuichi informing her over the phone he had already picked out two rings. He had felt responsible, perhaps, and anyone their age knew marriages after a discovered pregnancy were quite fashionable and common those days.

Still, it wasn't what Sayaka found herself wanting.

"All in the past. What matters now is the present and the future...and us," She gently kissed him. "Tomorrow will be unforgettable,"

"Yeah...it really will be," He kissed her back with a smile.


	22. Sayaka 3: Blessed Wedding Day

**Sayaka 3: Blessed Wedding Day**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; September 2nd, 1994**

* * *

Early that morning, before the sun had risen, Hifumi stood outside of their tent and looked over the shadowy town from the amphitheater. They were all down there, weren't they, eagerly bustling about to finish up the last minute preparations for their weddings. Completely unaware, they were, of what was to happen to them. They had stolen everything from him; Sayaka-sama, his journal, his job, his life, his hope...but soon none of that would matter anymore.

He glanced back over at the tent as Mukuro tossed and moaned in her sleep. She never sounded like she was having happy dreams. Soon he'd have to wake her up anyway and send her on her way, all dolled-up in that lavender cocktail dress with pearls on every limb. Junko would likely give her even finer clothes though. Yes, made from golden silk with real jewels at her throat. Wouldn't that be something?

The wind suddenly blew around harder as he sighed. "No going back, huh? Looks like Hifumi-san is going on an adventure today. However, for once, he cannot see the outcome of it,"

* * *

That afternoon, the temple was quietly buzzing as the very first wedding in Hope's Peak since the world ended that summer was about to take place. Actual residents of the community were not allowed inside at the ceremony, but if they were lucky enough they could catch glimpses of the happily-married Ministers walking past on their way to the reception. That was more than enough for them as they all crowded the grounds beside the temple building.

Inside, it was a relatively quiet affair. The bridesmaids stood on one side while the groomsmen stood on the other side, all looking identical in their dress. The bridesmaids all wore identical lavender cocktail gowns with white cardigans and ribbons around their waists with kitten heels and pearl necklaces, earrings, and hair clips; Aoi even wore her hair down. Kaito and Chihiro wore simple grey and blue kimono with their title written on the back in large white characters. Makoto stood at the front beside the Shinto priest, while Leon did the same for Yasuhiro.

The wedding march began to chime loudly from a recording somewhere and the two brides walked in together, radiant and glowing. Kaito gently took Kaede's arm while Chihiro took Sayaka's and they walked the women the remainder of the way down the aisle. Sayaka smiled at Makoto, her hands folded in front of her.

"Wow...you look...beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.." Makoto blushed heavily. He wore an extremely formal black kimono with a matching haori draped over everything and gold trimming on everything.

"I'm just so happy..." She bit her lip, not wishing to cry until Makoto ran his hand down her cheek.

"It's a happy occasion. You can cry if you need to," He smiled.

Her hair was done up formally in gold and white kanzashi with a bridal hat on and the lacy veil falling down from it. Her kimono was a pure, unblemished white with a matching white robe over it that fell in waves on the ground.

They turned to look at the priest, and Sayaka really _did_ cry tears of joy as Makoto burned the bark incense for the gods and promised their marriage would last forever. They each sipped from the three bowls of sake; for eternity, for fertility, for unity.

"Damn, you look great in that wedding gown," Leon whistled at Kaede as she took his hand. She blushed a bit.

"It took me a while to find one in the right size," She admitted, wearing a traditional white wedding dress with long lacy sleeves and a giant billowing hoop-skirt. Hers had tiny red flowers embroidered at the bottom and she wore a matching red robe draped over her shoulders. Her hair was up in a loose but fancy bun with a short veil and red blossoms in her hair. Leon looked just as dapper in his formal black tuxedo.

Kaede didn't cry, but smiled happily as they exchanged their vows and kissed; then exchanged their rings. Yasuhiro brought out temporary registration papers for the new couples; they eagerly rewrote their signatures as Sayaka Naegi and Kaede Kuwata.

They then kissed again and started to head over to Chihiro's place for the reception, everyone talking happily. Pictures flashed around them as they left the temple and Chihiro shielded his good eye from how bright everything had suddenly gotten.

Mukuro walked off in the other direction when they got off the temple grounds, making Kaede stop and stare at her. "Mukuro-chan? Their house is the other way,"

"Yeah. I'm not going to the reception. I feel extremely sick," She clutched her stomach and feigned gagging. "Just send me the party bag or whatever," She then shrugged and walked away indifferently, making Kaede sigh.

"Even today she's distant...I thought this day would make her happier,"

Leon took her hands and kissed her again. "Just ignore her. This day is about you and me, not anyone else. Don't forget that,"

Kaede nodded and perked up again. "Alright!"

* * *

It was around five in the evening when the reception finally started and the living room had been transformed into a makeshift dining hall. A podium was stood in the front of the room and long tables had been brought out for the couples, decorated in purple cloth. Those were set out near the podium while the remainder of the guests were to sit on the couches. A big table was set out near the dining room and contained all of their food and of course a four-tiered wedding cake with four dolls on top in each bride's and groom's likeness.

By the front door stood a small end-table with expensive party favours for each guest to take home at the end as well as a pile of envelopes from each guest filled with money for the married couples. Money was still worthless, but it was a formality so everyone pitched in with what they had all found at the bank. Ishimaru also stood by the door in a blue suit, keeping a general eye on the festivities and to make sure nobody would disrupt the reception. Both Kaede and Leon had wanted to invite him and he accepted.

The couples sat at their own table then; Sayaka having changed into a pale pink kimono with a deep red robe over it with cranes patterned onto the back and matching earrings. She wore her hair into a small ponytail with a small arrangement of pink and peach flowers in it. Aoi, Maki, and Kaito all sat on one couch by the roaring fireplace, the latter eagerly cheering everyone on, while Yasuhiro stood near the bookcase and watched the self-dubbed Warriors of Hope trying to figure out how to work a cassette player on their own. Chihiro leaned against the closet door that Mukuro had planted the bomb in. Everyone looked around eagerly for who would officially kick off the reception by delivering the first speech.

"Um...I suppose it could be me," Makoto shyly raised his hand and walked over the podium. "I would like to thank everyone for attending my wedding today, and Leon-san's wedding as well. I've never felt so happy in my life, and that's saying a lot," Laughter from everyone. "Surrounded by friends...that's all anyone could ever ask for out of life, I suspect. I feel bad I don't have much of a speech prepared despite being expected to give one...but who's around to tell us what length these speeches have to be, am I right? I hope everyone has a good time tonight," He bowed formally to polite applause. Aoi finished cutting the cake and served it to everyone who wanted some, eagerly eating her own piece. She tried to catch Chihiro's eye, but he was anxiously flipping through the notes of his own speech.

Sayaka smiled to herself, thinking over how much more confident Makoto had seemed in comparison to when her and Hifumi had first met him all those months ago. He still had that calming effect and way with words, but now he could stand in a large group of friends at a formal event-a life-changing event, and not even flinch despite not being as prepared.

As he sat back down beside her, she rested her head on his shoulder and felt her thoughts turning to Hifumi and Mukuro.

_I feel sorry for you, but also afraid. I'm glad both you and her are gone forever...it wasn't meant to be this way. At least now we can all finally be at peace,_ She thought to herself just as Kaito stood up and set his speech down on the podium.

"Fellow Ministers of Hope's Peak, my friends, ladies and gentlemen...I am truly honored to be invited to such a festive affair and take part in such a happy occasion. I'm not going to stand up here and talk about how I never thought I'd be in such a position several months ago, but that's a moot point. We all feel that. Instead, I'm going to talk about why this makes me feel so happy. It's not just the wedding or the fact you all are my dearest friends or the fact that this fills me with hope.

I was an orphan taken in by my grandparents at a very early age, and they truly wanted to see me achieve great things. But I hadn't found the thing that spoke to me yet..."

As he talked, the children finally slipped a tape into the cassette player and pushed the button; old-timey romance songs began to pour out from the speakers, sounding staticy at first.

"Huzzah! We finally have music!" Masaru cheered. He wore a plain blue suit.

"If only it had microphones. Then we could sing along," Monaca stated, standing up anyway and running her hands down her embroidered red velvet dress.

"I want to get some more cake!" Kotoko giggled. She was wearing a frilly pink gown and matching white sweater with pink butterfly wings on her back. "Nobody else is eating it!" She jumped up and spun around over to the table, spotting Chihiro leaning against the closet. "Big Brother Chihiro!" She gasped. "Look, I'm a butterfly!"

He smiled and nodded at her, clapping his hands nicely.

Ishimaru finally walked over and steered her in the direction of the table. "Settle down! You are disrupting Minister Momota's speech!"

"Awww!" She pouted. The fire crackled warmly. Aoi was already on her third piece of cake. Maki anxiously played with her hair was she listened to the speech, a faint blush appearing on her face as Kaito got to the part about meeting her and Chihiro and Gonta and forming the rest of their little group. Chihiro adjusted his position and stretched, bumping his back up against the closet door. Kaede fed Leon some bites of her cake off her fork.

* * *

Hifumi was sitting quietly at a picnic table, watching the last colours of the sunset fade off into the mountains. In his hands was the Walkie-Talkie that matched the one in the shoebox. His expression was unreadable. Mukuro took a sudden chill and shivered in her tiny bridesmaid dress, trying to pull the cardigan closer to her before she felt foolish. It was just an accessory, not an actual garment. She shivered again, this time from a need to pee.

"When are we going to do it?" She looked down at the town below them. "I don't want to be here on a stake-out all night,"

"Soon," Hifumi promised. She shivered a third time, this one from the pleasure of thinking of the rewards Junko would give her once she arrived in the west.

* * *

Kaito had finished his own speech a few minutes ago and cleared his throat. "Can you believe how lucky we are tonight? Our own Prime Minister gets to give a speech!"

Chihiro blushed crimson and looked away as everyone chuckled.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing him!" Sayaka laughingly teased.

Chihiro handed his own speech to Kaito, who nodded and began again.

"I'm probably not the best at speech-giving, as you can tell by my introduction. Let me be the second or third to say how truly proud I am of this community and this council and how much we've all achieved together..."

Sayaka glanced out the window curiously, feeling the warm orange rays on her back. The sun had nearly set and it filled her with a sense of extreme homesickness and longing that came out of nowhere. She placed a careful hand on her stomach as she and the other three rose a final time; Makoto and Leon in simple grey and black suits, Kaede in a pastel green mermaid gown, and herself in a sunny yellow party dress with a white sweater and matching pearls.

"That's how you looked when we first met," Makoto reminded her, and she gave a smile.

It was five minutes to eight.

* * *

Mukuro finally sighed and pushed herself off the bench, squirming. She had to go to the bathroom so badly at that point she felt close to wetting herself. While ruining such a priceless party outfit did have its merits, she wanted to actually look presentable when she arrived at Junko's place.

She stepped a bit further and found the cover of some bushes, concealing her front half in them and pulling the dress up, slipping her underwear down, and letting go just like that. Her stream lasted for a minute and sputtered and soaked the dirt.

When she returned to Hifumi, he was still sitting at the picnic table, staring at the Walkie-Talkie. The antenna was pulled up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"It's late. It's nearly eight-twenty. Do it now," She commanded.

"I'll do it soon! Don't worry. These things can go on for hours at a time. Did you know the bride is expected to go through at least three different costume changes?" Hifumi smirked.

"Hifumi!" She glared at him. "When?"

"Just as soon as it's dark," He promised. "Just as soon as it's dark,"

* * *

Sayaka finished up her cake and stifled a yawn as Aoi was still in the middle of making her own speech. She wasn't tired nor bored, the reception was just starting to run a little long and she had an immense feeling of wanting to just scream at everyone and tell them to get out. Her pregnancy was still doing a number on her, it seemed. She rested her head on Makoto's shoulder. One of the kids had turned the cassette player on again and the music was slowly blaring from it. It was almost like being in a old movie.

"The best part of weddings are always the mints, I'll tell you," Kaito laughed as he chewed on some. "Makes me want to crash a bunch of weddings,"

"They're not just for weddings. Baby showers use them too I think," Maki blushed more. "Don't distract me. I'm up next after her to deliver my speech,"

"Yours will be the best, Harumaki," He winked.

Sayaka tightened her grip on Makoto, feeling queasy. Why did she suddenly feel such a strong feeling of dread? She tried to ignore it as she shifted in her seat. But what of the other people who just knew things in their trance? Damn it, was she an esper or not?!

Get them all out. You have to get everyone out, now! A voice in her head cried, and she suddenly stood up.

"Sayaka-chan?" Makoto asked in concern as he saw her trembling.

"...Leave...a-all of us. We all have to get out of here, right now! Listen to me!" Tears spilled from her eyes. "Something awful is about to happen and we have to get out of here!"

* * *

It was eight-forty. The last of the light had vanished from the sky a few minutes ago. Hifumi placed a shaky hand on the Walkie-Talkie button. Mukuro watched him levelly. This was it. No turning back once he pressed that button, not like he had any other choice at the moment.

With a deep breath, he smashed the button.

"No hard feelings,"

* * *

It would always be in her heart that they didn't move fast enough.

Everyone had instantly jumped up at her tone, moving things aside and trying to leave. As they were, Kiriko burst through the door anxiously, wild-eyed and in tears.

"My God, someone please come with me now and hurry!" She sobbed.

"What's going on?" Yasuhiro walked over to her and she yanked on his arm.

"Lady Nanami has come back! She's back but she's in a horrible condition! Oh good God, just come!" She pulled Yasuhiro out of the house while everyone froze for just a second before they started trying to leave again. A terrible feeling of darkness and doom surrounded Makoto as he grabbed Sayaka's hand and tried to lead her out the door.

"Wait! Not all of us are out yet! Fujisaki-san is still in there!" She broke away from his grip and rushed back into the house, finding Chihiro standing in the middle of the room. "Come on!" She cried, trying to pull him away.

He shrugged her off and raced for the closet. He couldn't explain how he knew it, but somehow he just knew-something awful was about to happen. He felt her hand grip his shoulder again but shrugged her off. He threw open the closet door and hurriedly threw out scarves and boots and whatever else, hoping and praying that he wasn't too late.

Sayaka ran off after that, throwing herself into Makoto's arms and crying at him hysterically.

"What, what, what is it?" He worried, grabbing her arms.

"Something awful, something awful! Oh no, something horrible is about to happen, it's death, death is coming for us all and Fujisaki-san is still in there!" She screamed.

"What about him?!" Makoto demanded. "You're not making sense,"

"Please, we have to get him out of there! Get him out of there before the awful thing happens!" She sobbed.

Chihiro clutched the shoebox tightly in his hands, ripping the lid off.

"What's going on? What's going to happen?" Makoto tried to ask.

"Get him out, please! Please!" Sayaka sobbed.

And then the house exploded behind them.

* * *

Everything somehow seemed warm and peaceful. Sayaka was suddenly grateful she had no shoes on, otherwise the blast might've knocked her right out of them.

_Huh?_

There was the sound of shattering glass and people screaming. She had landed on her side and felt a sharp pain in her foot. The side of her gown was ripped.

_Huh?_

Bricks and stones and pieces of wood ran down around her, and a chair landed close behind her. She blinked her eyes a few times to adjust and realized with sick horror everything was too bright, much too bright; like the afternoon sun but it had set a while ago, didn't it?

_Oh no...Makoto-kun? Makoto-kun?! Leon-san? Fujisaki-san?! What's happening?! Oh God..._

A wooden plank fell down next to her and she wildly thought Kaito had a bookshelf in the living room made from that same material. The screams became more clear to her and she shut her eyes in some feeble attempt to make them less audible. Something about the fireplace...

_Hifumi-san did this, I know he did this, he did all of this!_ She cried out in her mind. And then: _Is my baby still alright?_

Then she opened her eyes again and nearly let out a shriek as a giant dark coffin-like shadow struck her back and neck and head hard. It covered her up like a black coffin and she felt herself slipping away.

_My baby my baby my baby my baby oh my God my baby! _She screamed inside her head before everything went dark; she went into a place that not even the girl with the bear in her hair could follow her into.

* * *

Hifumi let the Walkie-Talkie fall from his hands and hit the picnic table with a large electric clatter, shaking and trembling all over.

He blew the house up, didn't he? Destroyed every last inch of hope that they had. Nothing could've lived through that blast, he was sure. And yet a deep aching filled his insides at the thought of his former friends all dying on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.

_Good God, what have I done?!_

He felt strong hands grip his shoulder and managed to shrug them off, still staring ahead at the bright burning fire. The hands tried once more and he finally looked over to see a look of sheer ecstasy on Mukuro's face as she hugged herself.

"Ikusaba-san...?" He asked slowly, and she responded by choking and then hurling on the ground in front of them. He just stared at her, disturbed. Her legs had a shininess to them he decided he didn't like.

Once she finished retching; a raw and heavy sound, she wiped her mouth off and started to pack up their tent. Hifumi stared at her.

"W-We're leaving now? What happened to tomorrow night-!" She whirled on him and he shrieked.

"It has to be now, Hifumi. Otherwise they'll come after us and execute us for murder. Do you want to be put on a murder trial?" She stared at him, and he finally shook his head. "We're heading west now. To Junko. And we're no longer an item or whatever you called it. We did what she wanted us to do and destroyed the Ministers of Hope's Peak. No matter what they do now, they'll never get that simple fact back," She threw the tent into one of their bags. "But it's not all bad. Junko will reward you grandly. You'll get a woman who is ten times prettier than my plain self. A princess, a nurse, a gambler, a cosplayer, anything you want! And I get to have my own groom. Happy days for us all," Despite her monotone her eyes still shone with arousal as she thought about it.

Hifumi took a few steps back. "B-But...we killed people. We killed a lot of people. Murdered them, in fact...don't you know that murder and kill are two different words?!" He cried. Mukuro almost felt pity for him; he was young and now his mind would be stained forever with the thought of murder. It was in her mind too; he wasn't special. He made the choice who he wished to serve, and he would be all the better for it.

"I don't care. Nobody cares, Hifumi. You do what you have to do to survive. Now help me pack this stuff up. I want to be a fourth of the way there by sunup," She ordered, and Hifumi nodded meekly and helped her roll their things up into sleeping bags and shove them into their bags.

They stole some motorcycles and fifteen minutes later were driving off in the cold night, heading west.

* * *

She could hear birds. Yes, birds, so it must've been a Saturday morning when the good shows she liked to watch on TV would be on and that afternoon her beloved idol shows would be on that she'd watch while she drank her plum juice and Sachiko would be beside her eating some ramen from her Minky Momo bowl and chopsticks because her name is Sayaka Maizono and she is seven years old and through their window she can smell part of the ocean because she lives in Nagoya-

Except she's not in Nagoya anymore, is she? She's in Hiroshima at Hope's Peak. She could still hear birds outside. There was an explosion-

"Makoto-kun?!" She cried out in shock, opening her eyes, and within a second Makoto was by her side with a nasty bandaged cut on his forehead and a broken arm in a sling, but he was still him and he had survived.

"Oh thank goodness, you're awake," He smiled weakly at her.

"D-Did I lose the baby...?" She asked slowly, her mouth feeling like sandpaper. "Did I..?"

"What? No! The baby wasn't lost, you still have it, everything is fine," He reassured her and she burst into tears again and held him tightly.

She cried for several minutes until her throat felt ready to burst and Makoto had to go and get her some water. Once she recovered, she sighed a bit.

"How bad was it?"

"I really don't think this is the best time-" He looked away from her.

"I asked, I want to know. How many, Makoto-kun? What about Fujisaki-san? Did anyone die?" She stared at him levelly.

"...Fujisaki-san is...he's one of the ones dead. He was holding the actual shoebox, you know, but I think what sealed his fate was the shattered glass from the window," Makoto closed his eyes. "He was the only one we couldn't find any remains of so we figured when he was the only one left unaccounted for..."

Sayaka bit her lip. "Who else?" Her voice sounded shaky.

"Asahina-san. She was trying to shield herself using the podium but the blast got her too. They did an autopsy on her because she still had a body and...they discovered she was with child,"

She covered her mouth to stifle her gasp. "Oh God, no...! Even a pregnant woman?!"

"It would've been_ two_ if not for you," He reminded her gently. "Ishimaru-san...and Kotoko-chan...those were the only four. Kaito-san said that we were extremely lucky," He didn't mention that Kotoko had been killed when the cassette player exploded into pieces and one struck her neck and sliced it, nearly beheading her. Or that both Monaca and Jotaro had been disfigured in the resulting blast; Jotaro had part of his face burned off and Monaca was paralyzed from the waist down after a bookshelf fell on her. Ishimaru had died after the door splintered into pieces and fell on him.

Kaito himself lost two fingers from the blast, while Maki was thrown through the window and suffered cuts and scratches. Kaede and Leon had gotten separated in the chaos and he wasn't sure of their overall condition other than they were physically fine.

Sayaka nodded. "What about me..?" She asked slowly. She tried to sit up and cried out at a stabbing pain in her back.

"The explosion threw you halfway across the yard...your back is sprained and your foot is broken and you have shell-shock, so says Miaya-san," Makoto responded shakily. "You got the first two from when that couch landed on you,"

"A couch?!" Sayaka asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it was one of Kaito-san's. I managed to pull it off you before a flying stone from the fireplace knocked me out," He tried to offer her a smile. "I'm just so glad you aren't dead. I was so afraid for a while that you were..."

They pulled each other in and kissed deeply.

"Some honeymoon this is," He tried to tease.

"Hifumi-san did this to us," She said suddenly. "Him and Ikusaba-san both."

"They got us bad too...I tried to have people search for them earlier but I wouldn't let them leave the town perimeter, and knowing Ikusaba-san she was probably smart enough to get them further away from that faster. They left practically no trace, though we did learn they did it from a Walkie-Talkie attached to a few sticks of dynamite," He sighed.

"We searched his house...we should've done more. If we had Fujisaki-san and Aoi-san would've still been alive!" She cried. "But instead all we found were knives and a gun that nobody even used!"

Makoto gently held her close. "Calm down...we searched that house thoroughly and you know that we did. If we had found anything else suspicious we would've shown it to him,"

Sayaka sniffled, thinking about how Chiaki came back just in time to save them before she gasped.

"Lady Nanami! Where is she?! She came back and saved our lives! She's not dead, is she?" She asked frantically.

"She wandered back into town a few minutes before your premonition, supposedly. Nagisa-chan was one of the first ones out of the house alongside Yasuhiro-san and actually took her by the hand. He was trying to take her to the hospital but she just collapsed on his front door so he took her in there instead. Once Leon-san and Kaede-san returned from the clinic they started to take care of her," He looked away. "I've always had the most ordinary things happen to me ever since I was a little boy in Yokohama, but now I'll firmly say that she is truly someone who's been touched by the gods,"

Sayaka looked away. "She's dead, isn't she? She came back here just to die,"

"What?! She's not dead!" Makoto gasped. "All of the doctors here say she might as well be dead though, given the condition that she's in. She might even go tonight, or in a few days,"

Sayaka sat there numbly.

"Everyone is talking about _her_ now though. They know it was her that told Hifumi-san to blow up our wedding and also likely the reason Lady Nanami came back to us in the condition that she's in. They all know that she's out there, and for once in my life...I'm really scared. I can't feel any shred of hope left in me. Bad things are going to keep happening,"

Sayaka reached out for his hand when she saw him look away. "But it's not all bad, right? You still have me and the baby,"

"Yes," He finally answered after a long time, still refusing to look at her. "But for how long?"


	23. Leon 5: Aftermath

**Leon 5: Aftermath**

**####**

**Hiroshima; September 3rd, 1994**

* * *

That next day, around dusk, huge floods of people arrived to camp out on the doorstep of Leon and Kaede's house, talking lowly with each other. Kiriko bounced on her heels anxiously while Aiko shared a filled picnic basket with Tsubasa and her boyfriend Taro. Yasuke was there, pushing Miaya around in her wheelchair. Sakura and Kenshiro were there, speaking quietly with Tayu; that idol girl and her best friend. And those were just the people that Leon could readily recognize; he was sure there were far, far more around than them.

He was looking out at them through the bedroom window, trying to breathe in through his mouth, as behind him was a sickly smell of illness. It reminded him of-_no, don't think about her, you'll puke and you hate puking_-but yet he refused to move into another room.

He considered it to be his punishment for getting out unharmed while Chihiro and Aoi both died; people who deserved to live more than he did. Damn, Aoi was even knocked-up with her own baby and yet she still died and he got to live. How was that fair? According to the doctor, he had been thrown halfway across the yard into some flower beds by the blast. He was released earlier than Kaede was because there was nothing wrong with him at all. Yeah, Chihiro dies, Aoi dies, he lives. Just like old Leon, he ruefully mused. Even Kaede was diagnosed with shell-shock after she tried to escape the house through the kitchen and got trapped under the staircase when the house collapsed.

Same old Leon indeed.

Seiko was checking on Chiaki silently behind him, though he knew her examination was almost done and soon she'd head back to the clinic to check on her other patients.

Hifumi had done that to them; he was certain of that. Him and Mukuro both. He followed that boy halfway across Japan, following his signs and instructions left behind, read his journal for fuck's sake and yet he never saw it coming when he should've. And what of Mukuro? If he had accepted her pleas that night, would she have fallen like that? He couldn't of, he wouldn't of, he had Kaede to think about, but still...

The community likely wanted to execute Hifumi for his crimes. In the old world, even though he was a minor, his assassination attempt killed enough people that he would've been given the death penalty, easily. Hifumi wasn't all bad though; it was Enoshima. Her and Mukuro were the ones who did the majority of this and just strung Hifumi along. Twins of despair they were indeed. And he had no doubt that Enoshima was thrilled with the endeavors of the previous night. Makoto was still alive, sure; the mouth that Chihiro never had, and Yasuhiro who gave good points of discussion every so often, but Chihiro had been the very heart of their council; their leader, their Prime Minister, their hope. Aoi had been their soul, their moral guidance alongside Sayaka.

She'd reward them well when they finally reached her, no doubt about that.

He finally turned away from the window and found Seiko finishing up her check-up while Kaede walked into the room, carrying a tray full of breakfast foods. "Nothing is better than breakfast for dinner!" She said cheerily.

"Is she going to survive the night?" Leon asked Seiko instead, who looked up at him.

"...Don't know,"

"How is she now?"

"Same..." Seiko then bowed politely and left the room while Kaede placed the tray on the nightstand. Nothing but Western-style foods. Didn't Miss Chiaki say she enjoyed Japanese-style breakfasts the most?

He then glanced over at the actual figure on the bed; clearly still female but just barely alive. Her hair was chopped short and her bangs hung in her face; her mouth was open slightly so one could hear her labored breathing. Her yellow yukata was torn and dirtied and a boot was missing while the other had holes in it; they disposed of it. Scratches and cuts marred her body, and that itself was practically nothing more than a thin stretch of skin. Her stomach was the only large thing that remained; swollen and painfully distended. Leon was one of the few who hadn't found her eyes creepy even in their dreams, but looking at the dull, listless pools of pink now, he couldn't fight a shiver going down his spine. It was made worse when he remembered she couldn't even see any of them. Did she even know where she was?

"I brought oatmeal and bacon and eggs and sliced oranges and some orange juice!" Kaede continued to smile and rolled Chiaki over onto her other side gently so she was facing her. "The oatmeal will be lighter on your body so let's start with that first,"

Chiaki didn't respond, just slowly swallowed whenever the spoon was placed into her mouth. Leon thought it was one of the most pitiful things he had ever seen in his life. She reminded him of something he read in a book once about Buddhist monks who made the decision to further isolate themselves from society and atone for their selfishness and committed suicide by mummifying themselves. Was that what she had been trying to do? Seiko had said she was suffering from extreme weight loss and was like a doll when she was lifted into the bed, though she had no clue if it was self-inflicted or related to her disease. What sort of gods or spirits or whatever else would make her suffer like that?

"I think she came back because she has something important to say," Kaede suddenly announced as she was in the middle of feeding her. Leon looked at her strangely.

"She doesn't even know where she is right now,"

"So? She came back for a reason, Kuwata-kun. And the spirits won't allow her to die until she tells us what she needs to," She put the empty bowl back on the tray. "But it can't be anything good...somehow, I just get the feeling that many more people are going to die..."

Leon went back over to the window and jumped a bit when he felt her gently wrap her hands around him. "I love you,"

"I love you too..." He started to shudder as she held him tighter.

"You can let it all out if you need to," She whispered gently, and soon he felt hot tears flow down his cheeks as he cried hard. She rubbed his back soothingly.

"Oh God, what is any of this?! Why did this all happen?" He cried, and Kaede just listened to him pour it all out, not knowing either, while behind them Chiaki finally fell asleep, her breathing still labored as she tried her hardest to hold on.

* * *

The next day another emergency town meeting was held in the temple once more with a great turnout. Behind Makoto sat Leon, Kaito, and Yasuhiro, while Kaito held a Walkie-Talkie in his hand so Sayaka could hear the meeting from her room; her back still hurt far too much to allow her to get up.

"There's a lot of things that need discussed tonight," Makoto began slowly. "I don't think there's a single person in this room who isn't aware of Lady Nanami's sudden return, or of the explosion that killed our beloved Minister Asahina and Prime Minister Fujisaki. But let's talk about something positive for once tonight, huh? Kaito-san?" Makoto moved aside to let Kaito take the floor.

"The power is going to be up and running by tomorrow afternoon! We finally finished building the last panel for our solar farm and I think it looks quite nice!" Everyone gave a healthy round of applause. "Before we actually turn it on, however, please make sure everything in your house and your neighbors' houses are all turned off. It's just respectful and since this is all hooked up to a generator we can't afford an overload,"

Everyone nodded in agreement and there was a small amount of applause as Makoto took the podium again.

"Let's talk about what happened at Kaito-san's place on the 2nd. As both your Minister of Defense and your Deputy Prime Minister, it is my job to do so," He found himself inwardly trembling at how everyone hushed at that, nearly leaning forward with greedy looks in their eyes. He tried to compose himself and explained all of the events that happened leading up to the explosion.

"Yesterday morning Kaito-san and I combed through the rubble for three hours and found some remaining pieces of dynamite hooked up to a Walkie-Talkie, while Yasuke-san and Kenshiro-san found a matching one up by the amphitheater. We assume the bomb was set off there-"

"Assume?! There's no need to assume anything! I'll tell you who it was...bastard Yamada and that chick Mukuro of his!" Yasuke suddenly yelled. Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, ignoring Makoto's pleas to silence. He finally sighed.

_They don't care about our losses at all, do they? They just wish to see Hifumi-san and Ikusaba-san dragged back here in chains, put on a trial for murder, and then executed. They don't care about Fujisaki-san or Asahina-san or that little girl who died. They just want people punished...are these really the good guys?_

He finally loudly pounded on the podium. "Please settle down! If I have to yell again I'll cancel this meeting," He waited for everyone to silence once again. "We suspect Yamada Hifumi-san and Ikusaba Mukuro-san of the crime, we have reasonable evidence for that but no solid proof. If they do somehow come back though, I'd like them taken to me. I'll give them a fair trial and hear their side, and then lock them in prison. I know they're the ones responsible but...can't we all just be civil about this?" He laughed nervously and scanned the room. "Anyway, two new positions are open that need to be filled soon. We won't do that tonight, but if anyone has any suggestions..."

A few people raised their hands, and when called on, all said the same thing; Yasuke Matsuda. Makoto felt despair bubble up in the pit of his stomach.

Replace Chihiro Fujisaki with him? Yasuke wasn't a bad man at all and split his time evenly between the power committee and the clinic; and that was part of the problem, he was too busy and versatile. Plus he had a temper where Chihiro was originally easy-going, a good fit for Prime Minister. This felt like a joke. He was Deputy Prime Minister, meant to take on the roles and responsibilities just in case the original Prime Minister was unable, so surely he could just forever remain in the position, right?

"We'll consider that option and let you know our own choices for the two empty seats next week on the eleventh," Makoto eventually sighed.

_Sorry, that was an awfully lame send-off, Fujisaki-san._

"Seiko-san is also here tonight to inform us of Lady Nanami's current condition," He continued on, giving her the floor as she bowed shyly and walked over to the podium.

She began by mentioning the status of everyone who was injured in the blast; all making full recoveries. Once her subject changed, so did her tone, and several people leaned forward eagerly.

"I...I can't do anything for her," Seiko said slowly. "She's blind and weak...weak immune system...more likely to get certain diseases...she ate nothing...prepared...for two weeks...needles and seeds and fish...she is currently suffering from...diarrhea...hard to tell but...some roots were found,"

Someone in the audience gasped. Seiko just continued on. "I...I...don't know what...sick with. I've never...seen before...cuts cover her body...she is painfully thin but her stomach...bloated...I think she started to try starving herself..."

"Hey, can't you stop it?" Someone else yelled out. "Have some decency when talking about a young girl!"

Seiko trembled. "I...I can't do anything for once!" She cried and pulled off her mask; the first time she had done so since Chihiro's death, nobody else needed to see her lips. "I dreamed of her before I came here. It was only two times, but I had. I was one of the best at my job before the pandemic, and I'm deeply saddened by my uselessness here. She is as dear to me as she is to all the rest of you, but everything is in her own hands now. If she believes she deserves to be healed, than she will be healed. Otherwise I can do nothing," She looked close to tears as she finally stepped away from the podium and ran back over to her seat, and several others in the audience were quietly crying as well. Yasuhiro took the floor next.

"I think now is a good time to talk about the most pressing issue on our minds other than Lady Nanami's recovery, and that is that of the fashionista,"

A few people folded their hands up or crossed themselves at her mention, and one woman slashed at her throat and ears in an eerily-similar way to Chihiro Fujisaki.

"Let's try to put the pieces together using what we know from our shared dreams. Police do that sort of thing all the time, man! For starters, her name is Junko Enoshima. That is what she has chosen to name herself in this current form. Seeing her presents a feeling of dread, darkness, sickness, despair. And an ever-lasting feeling of coldness afterwards," Everyone nodded in agreement. "She resides in the west and according to several people, Lady Nanami included, she crucifies people who step out of line. They see it in their dreams! She will stop at nothing to defeat us, and I think Hifumi-san and Ikusaba-san did what they did to please her. I know I believe in the old magic and powers and what not, but I'm being completely serious when I say that Lady Nanami is to us what she is to them,"

Makoto took the floor back after that amid wild applause and opened the discussion up to potential ideas of what to do. Many were wild such as stockpiling weapons somehow or a bomb squad. Eventually some people had given up and walked home due to the late hour, while others remained and recited in intimate details their dreams of Lady Nanami.

The meeting ended at around one-thirty in the morning and for once since his wedding, Makoto felt his spirits starting to lift at the good-natured conversation the townspeople had. He was beginning to feel hopeful again.

* * *

The power returned on the fifth of September on a day the community would call Power Day; right at noon. Makoto was with Sayaka in her hospital room when the bright fluorescent lights flickered on, off, on, off, then stayed on, buzzing madly. Sayaka reached out for Makoto and felt tears well up in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his own wide. "Is it the pain?"

"No...Fujisaki-san was a programmer and gave so much time to trying to figure out how to bring our power back...it seems so wrong that he's not here to see this...he would've loved this the most, I just know he would've," She started to cry and Makoto gently rubbed her back. He found himself missing Chihiro again, and Aoi as well. Hifumi hadn't just killed them, he had robbed the whole council of their hope.

Once Sayaka finished crying, he gently pushed the button to raise her bed and placed a light beside her so she could read at night.

* * *

"Wake up. Wake up. Man, wake up!"

Makoto shot up in the middle of the night, looking around frantically and finding Yasuhiro's form standing there in the dark, with Blavatsky at his knee. He rubbed his eyes. "It's the middle of the night..." He turned the light on quickly and blinked several times as the bright light flooded the room. "What's wrong?"

"Lady Nanami," In the light, Makoto could make out that Yasuhiro looked pale and frightened; desperately frightened.

"Is she dead?" He asked, but Yasuhiro shook his head.

"No...hate me for this but I almost wish she was. She asked for us to come see her. I guess she's feeling more coherent now,"

"Just the two of us?" Makoto was already pulling on clothes over his pajamas.

"All five of us. I don't know how, but..she's gotta be physic too, I think! She knew Maizono-chi was in the hospital and that both Fujisaki-chi and Asahina-chi were dead," The two hurried outside. "She's got something important to say to us...and I'm almost afraid to hear it,"

The night air was chilly and the white moon looked down at them. The same moon was looking down on Kizakura and Kyoko and Gonta, the same moon was keeping an eye on the strange doings of Hope's Peak. Makoto zipped his jacket up higher.

"I got Momota-chi up first and told him to bring Maizono-chi right over in his van," Yasuhiro continued.

"She's not in any position to be moved!" Makoto scolded.

"So what, dude?! This is a very special instance!"

"You said you were afraid of what she has to say, yet you seem so eager to hear it,"

"Because I'm also afraid of not hearing it," Yasuhiro admitted softly.

Leon's house was ablaze with electric lights, much like the orange street lamps that dotted the road Makoto stared at in interest. Kaito was already pulled up to the house, opening up the passenger seat and showing Sayaka off, her back propped up with a large red pillow.

"Hi," Makoto waved awkwardly as he gently scooped her up and carried her up the steps. Leon stood there next to Yasuhiro, also looking tired in a shirt buttoned the wrong way and untucked jeans. Sayaka suddenly gasped in pain and Makoto tried to prop her up better.

"I'm so sorry to get you like this, and I mean that," Leon hissed as he saw Sayaka's pained face. "I was keeping watch on her and dozing on and off. She just needs help to use her bedpan; she barely eats. Kaede-chan had gone to bed about an hour ago and I had snapped out of my doze and like...she started talking. Her voice is barely above a whisper, but it's still her. She said she knows she's about to pass on but wanted to speak with the ones who hadn't. I asked her what that meant and like, she knew. She knew about Aoi-san and Fujisaki-san dying and Sayaka-chan being in the hospital,"

"I made coffee," Kaede appeared at the end of the hall, somehow looking more ghostly than Chiaki did. "If anyone wants any..."

"Thanks babe," Leon thanked her and Kaede nervously looked away.

"Can I listen in on this too? Or is it just for the Ministers?"

"I don't think stuff like that really matters anymore," He sighed, and everyone hurried up the stairs to where Chiaki was being kept.

"She'll tell us everything. She will," Kaito said quietly.


	24. Chiaki 2: Last Moments

**Chiaki 2: Last Moments**

**#####**

**Hiroshima; September 6th, 1994**

* * *

Sayaka knew about Chiaki's condition, of course, but to see it was still a shock. A tray of barely-eaten food was placed on the nightstand beside her and she could only breath out in short, shallow breaths. She stank of death. Even her eyes seemed stranger than they ever were; no longer pink but some unknown clear colour entirely.

"You're in pain! You should sit, Big Sister Sayaka," She gasped, and Kaito gently lowered her onto a chair in the room, making her sigh. "You're pregnant too,"

"How did-" Sayaka asked before Chiaki motioned to the window. She looked out and saw the vision of a pink nursery with a tiny pink crib and a swaying mobile of plastic pastel butterflies and a matching playpen; but everything was empty and only the mobile was moved by the wind. She gasped and threw up her hands over her mouth. "M-My baby...where's the baby?"

The others saw her dread but not her reason for it, as the window to them just showed an ordinary street.

"Big Brother Makoto isn't her father, but he will be like a father to her. She will have many fathers and mothers if she is lucky enough to draw breath at all," Chiaki continued, gasping suddenly. She gripped at her stomach. Sayaka looked out the window again and saw only darkness. "The despair sisters have taken their own groom and he intends to fill one with a child. They won't let yours live,"

Sayaka finally covered her face with her hands. Makoto looked away. Kaito fumbled with the ends of his shirt. Leon and Kaede stared at each other. Yasuhiro looked troubled.

"I'm not long for this world," Chiaki finally said, sighing a bit in pain. "Please get closer to me so you can see me better,"

Kaito sat at the edge of the bed, while Leon and Yasuhiro stood at the foot. Sayaka remained in her seat while Makoto dragged it over to the bed.

Chiaki was silent for a time again, clutching at her stomach. She rolled over onto her back before suddenly bursting into tears.

"Lady Nanami?!" Everyone cried out in shock, moving even closer to her. She sniffled and cried for a few minutes more.

"I was wrong...to come back when I did...because...the bad feeling never went away no matter how much I meditated. Now I know why...what it was...it was supposed to be the happiest day of your lives and it was ruined!" She sobbed.

"It's all in the past though, Miss Chiaki. Just tell us what we have to do now," Kaito tried to reassure her.

Chiaki bit her lip. "Fight off the queen of despair. That is your only goal now," She winced in pain. "Big Brother Chihiro was meant to lead you all, but he is no longer with us. Yet...I feel as though there's still a part of him left. Maybe he's not finished in the mortal world just yet. Until then though..." She awkwardly reached out her hand in Makoto's general direction. "_You_ will lead them, Big Brother Makoto. And if you fall, then Big Brother Leon will lead. If he falls, then Big Brother Kaito,"

"Wow, don't I feel special," Yasuhiro sighed.

"Lead? Go? Where?" Sayaka peeked through cracks she made in her fingers.

"West...not for you though. Just them," Chiaki responded. "They must defeat her in the name of hope,"

Sayaka was on her feet then, ignoring the pain as she trembled and hugged herself. "I refuse to let more innocent people die in the name of hope. Hope is what killed our Prime Minister. Hope is what will kill Makoto-kun and the rest of them, when they walk right into Junko's hands and allow themselves to be crucified. Hope is what we'll have none of when Junko arrives here in the spring with a whole army. I'll not let you sacrifice my husband like that. You know what I say about hope? Spit on it,"

"Sayaka-chan!" Makoto gasped.

"Spit on your hope, spit on it! I don't even know if my child will survive! Billions died from the pandemic, a million more afterwards, all for the sake of hope! When does it end? When will it ever end? I'm leaving. Makoto-kun, please take me home..." She shivered.

"Sayaka-chan..." He tried reaching out for her, but Chiaki got to her first and grabbed her wrist.

"Stop it, Big Sister Sayaka," She tightened her grip on the older girl and made her cry out in pain.

Sayaka winced, suddenly gasping out in pain as Chiaki's grip grew stronger; too strong for a weak, sick girl. Makoto moved closer to her, concern on his face.

Finally, Chiaki let go of her and Sayaka nearly fell forward, her eyes wide. Her wrist was clear; no red mark one would expect. She stretched and her eyes widened further. "It's gone..."

"What's gone?" Makoto asked, trying to lead her over to the chair again. She shrugged him off.

"My pain...it's gone," She stretched a few more times and touched her toes. She then looked over at Chiaki. "Is this because of your hope or whatever?"

"Your negative energy has left your body. You wished to feel better, and so you do," Chiaki responded easily.

Makoto gently lowered Sayaka back onto her seat, where she continued to sit, silent and in disbelief.

"You four are to go west," Chiaki continued, addressing the men in the room. "You will go today; take nothing with you, not even food or water. You will go this very day in the clothes you are wearing. I know that one of you will fall before you reach your destination, but I can't tell which one. The remaining three will be brought before the woman Enoshima, who isn't really a woman but really a human form of despair. I don't know if you'll survive. I don't know if you'll see Hope's Peak again, but you must go, and mustn't be afraid. Go to Nagasaki and there you'll make your stand," She suddenly gasped and clutched at her stomach again with a moan. She turned over on her other side and curled up slightly. "...I said everything I needed to say,"

"Look, we're not as spiritual as you claim to be, Lady Nanami. For starters, none of us have been taken from the depths of a bad fever with not a scratch but blindness!" Yasuhiro stated. "How do we know we won't get slaughtered by the first group we come across there?"

Chiaki covered her mouth and curled up more. "Do you think you're meant to be shot and killed upon arrival? Do you think that's the way of the world?"

"No, but-"

"Trust. That's all you need to have. Trust, and belief, and faith. Trust that what you're choosing to do is the right thing," She sighed weakly.

"Do we have any choice?" Leon demanded bitterly. "It sounds like my hands are literally tied!"

"There's always a choice...you are the one who chooses to see life how you see it. You are chosen to do this, but if you don't want to, I can't force you," She answered quietly.

"I'll go. If it's the right thing to do, then I'll do it," Kaito finally sat up, nodding. He saw Chiaki fumbling around for his hand and he eagerly took hers.

"Me too," Leon said. "I'll go," He rubbed at his head.

Yasuhiro started to say something too, but right as he opened his mouth, there was a loud gasp from the corner of the room and a thud. Everyone turned to look in shock; only then realizing they had forgotten all about Kaede in the room. She had fainted.

* * *

In the early hours of dawn, everyone sat around in Leon's tiny kitchen, absentmindedly sipping at lukewarm coffee. Sayaka wandered in; she had no limp or wince as she walked. Her face was tear-stained and she didn't look at the others for a long time. "...I think it's time," Was all she said, and they nodded and followed her up the stairs; Leon with his arm around Kaede.

Chiaki's eyes were closed and she breathed heavily; her stomach swollen. She reeked of illness. Everyone stood around her bed in silence, waiting and watching her in fear and awe. Kaito found himself wondering if her spirit would visibly leave her body and fly around the room one last time, perhaps heading off to her house again before she finally died. Maybe she'd be engulfed in a bright flame, or something.

But in the end, all that happened was her breathing growing slower and slower, before it finally ceased. Her chest didn't move again. She had died.

"That's that," Makoto found himself mumbling, looking down at her body.

"May she be reincarnated into a priestess or teacher. God knows she deserves it," Kaito whispered next, gently pulling her blankets over her body.

"I'll go," Yasuhiro suddenly said. "All we have left is white magic, and dude, you're crazy if you think I'm going to pass up a chance like that!"

Everyone then looked at Makoto; Sayaka's eyes were pleading.

"Say no. Please don't go," She whispered.

Makoto thought of the Kirigiris' car that crashed into his porch and brought death to Japan like a terrible Pandora. He thought of their only remaining member kissing him before she set off into the morning sun. He thought of Kyosuke lying to him about his family's condition, maybe even lying to himself. He thought of Sayaka, and of Chiaki saying he was chosen to do this.

"I have to go," He said finally.

"And die." Sayaka stared back at him.

"We'll all die if I don't do this. This is our last chance," He tried to hold her hand, but she moved away from him.

"Don't touch me," She sobbed.

They stood around the bed until the sun finished rising.

* * *

Around ten or eleven in the morning, Makoto and Sayaka climbed up the hills close to the amphitheater with a small picnic lunch they packed for themselves. The crickets chirped happily and the sky was blue and clear above them. It was summer again, it felt like. Sayaka started to spread out their blanket; a blue sheet she got from a hotel somewhere.

"Spit and I'll let you go," Makoto teased, and Sayaka looked at him for a moment before she turned her head, covered the side of her mouth with her hand, and spat. She then finished setting out their lunch; sandwiches, a small salad, and Pockies. "Sayaka-chan-"

"No. Let's just enjoy our time together," She shook her head at him, getting out their cans of green tea. She tossed him one.

"Itadakimasu," They both prayed before beginning to eat together in silence. Makoto felt too tense to eat, but managed to finish part of his salad, a Pocky, and a few bites of his sandwich.

"When are you leaving?" Sayaka asked, drinking her tea.

"Noon," Makoto awkwardly stared down at his food.

"When will you arrive?"

"I don't know...we're walking, but the path is pretty rugged. Especially since we'll be walking through part of typhoon season...we might make it by the end of this month? Start of next month?" He thought about it.

"Was she really sent to us from the spirits? We all dreamed of her, and she existed. It just seems like something from some kind of legend," Sayaka looked away. "I just wish she could've promised me that my child would be alright..then I'd be a little bit easier on you leaving," She placed a hand on her bump.

"What did she call the little girl?" Makoto asked softly, but Sayaka just shook her head. She started packing up their food.

"...Let's make love again. One last time," She finally said, and Makoto widened his eyes.

"H-Here?!"

"We've done it outside before...your first time," She reminded him softly, taking his hands.

Makoto nodded slowly and gently laid her back down on the blanket.

* * *

Leon spent the majority of his last hour sitting on his chair in the living room, just staring idly at the TV. He considered watching it earlier, but couldn't think of anything that'd actually distract him sufficiently, so he just sat there and took to staring at the black screen. Kaede walked in a few minutes later, her hands folded behind her back.

"You're leaving in an hour, huh?" She asked softly, standing in front of him. He nodded.

"Yeah...so if there's anything you need to say, say it now," He tried to smile at her, but it felt strained.

"You know...we never got much of a honeymoon," She began slowly, blushing. He raised his eyebrows at her as she gently sat herself down in his lap. "My first husband didn't give me much of one either, so I was hoping..."

Leon silenced her by giving her a kiss. "An hour-long honeymoon still seems pretty crappy,"

"Not if it's spent with you," Kaede kissed him back deeper, pressing her body up against his. "...Let's make love,"

"Right here?" Leon asked, smirking at her nodding. "Didn't know you were so kinky," He teased, and she continued to kiss him gently. Her hands slowly worked their way down his pants until she found his belt, unbuckling it and sliding his member out of his pants. While she did that, Leon gently fondled her breasts, squishing them gently in his hands. She gasped happily as she licked his slit and the top of his shaft, making him shiver. "You never fail to amaze me," He teased, and she responded by fitting more of his length into her mouth, bobbing her head up and down. He placed his hand on her head and kept it sturdy for her as she kept going. They both felt him harden after a time and she slowly pulled his member out, blinking.

"It has to be quick," She said suddenly, glancing at the clock. Before Leon could respond, she had thrown up her skirt and pulled off her underwear and began kissing him again as she lowered herself down onto his manhood, slowly wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Kaede-chan," He moaned as he continued kissing her, unbuttoning her shirt and pulling her bra down to fondle her breasts better. They slowly jiggled in time to her motions. She bounced on him a bit faster as she fit his whole length into her with a gasp.

"Mmmm..." She moaned as she kissed him deeper, looking into his clear blue eyes. She eventually pulled away and continued to bounce and gyrate her hips, tightly holding onto his hands for balance.

"I had no clue...you were so flexible!" He gasped as she went faster. She simply smiled and gave him another kiss.

"I'm close..." She told him, feeling his own pressure building up as well.

"Shit, we forgot a condom, didn't we?" He suddenly remembered, just as she gasped out and flooded his member with her juices, trailing down. She gave him a smile and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I want a family...Nagisa-chan probably wants a little brother or sister too," She whispered before he finally filled her, making her gasp.

"Well, here's to hoping you'll get one," Leon sighed as she pulled herself off and gently redressed herself. She gave him another gentle kiss, staring into his eyes.

"No," She shook her head. "Here's to hoping _we_ get one,"

* * *

Kaito and Maki had been moved into an apartment complex near the downtown region after their other house was destroyed in the blast; Kaito found Maki returning from her walk carrying a giant covered box.

"Harumaki?" He asked curiously, noticing her frazzled appearance. She dropped the box hard on the floor.

"It's their things...everything I could salvage," Maki said breathlessly. She tore the cover off and revealed several pairs of clothes, sports equipment, and colourful floppy discs. She pulled out a green one. "These weren't destroyed. He marked it with 'tornado'. Remember that story he told us of Gokuhara-san? This is for us. Whatever is on this, it's for us,"

"Harumaki-" Kaito tried to reason with her, but she walked past him and pushed the disc into their computer. Kaito became curious and wandered over as well to see, finding the computer still booting up.

Once it finally did after several minutes, they were greeted with a blinking word processor with an avatar of Chihiro in the corner, grinning. Maki rolled her cursor over it and it blinked.

**Hello. How may I help you today?**

"He made this," Kaito said in amazement.

Maki clicked around some more and clicked on a secret link, making the avatar gasp.

**My, you're curious today, aren't you, Master? Here is everything I found about Enoshima,**

Their eyes both widened as they beheld all of the information that poured out into the processor, paragraphs of everything Chihiro had learned so far, putting together everyone's dreams.

"He made all of this. He somehow knew he wouldn't make it this far. He did," Kaito sat back, numb. Beside him, Maki's features had darkened.

"You're still going to go though, aren't you? Go and play the hero,"

"Harumaki, it's my job. I was chosen. You don't want her to show up here in the spring and destroy us all, do you?"

"No, but why you? She could've picked anyone else, and she picked you," She fiddled with her hair.

Kaito closed his eyes. "I don't know. But I'm not going to let this opportunity pass me by, no matter how dangerous it is,"

She looked away from him.

"Harumaki-"

"No."

"No what?"

"Don't call me that. Don't let my last memory of you for several months be that stupid nickname of yours,"

"Alright...Maki-chan," He sighed, and she hugged him tightly and felt tears roll down her cheeks. She hiccuped as he rubbed her back.

"Make it back alive," She whispered after a few minutes.

"What kind of a hero would I be if I didn't?" Kaito teased, and they kissed slowly. Then they made love for the last time.

* * *

Twenty minutes before noon, Yasuhiro spent his remaining moments looking over the old house him and Kyoko used to share, cleaning everything up and putting their belongings in boxes and setting them out on the curb in front of various stores. One would think it was cold of him to give away Kyoko's things without her knowledge, but he had a very strong feeling that come January, that house would be standing empty with no owners. Kyoko wouldn't return to it, and neither would he, for that matter.

As a final sign of respect, he turned off all the lights and closed the blinds, dousing his house in total darkness.

"Well," He sighed afterwards. "Looks like this is it. Let's hope it won't be a difficult journey," He walked off, Blavatsky at his heels.

* * *

Makoto and Sayaka walked past the remains of what used to be Kaito's and Chihiro's house until a few days ago; the entire first floor was gone and the second floor had collapsed on top of it. Debris was spread all across the yard. A wind-up alarm clock was stuck in a shrub, and nearby that was the couch Sayaka got pinned under. There was a puddle of dried blood on the back-steps and Sayaka paused, staring at it strangely.

"Is that Fujisaki-san's blood? Do you think? Could it be?" She finally asked, startling Makoto.

"W-What?!"

"Is it?!"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Put your hand in it," Sayaka ordered, her expression serious.

"What?!" Makoto gasped again.

"Put your hand in it," She simply said again, and Makoto finally surrendered and put his hand in it, wincing. It most likely wasn't Fujisaki-san's blood at all, but he still felt gross and ghastly.

"Now, swear you'll come back," She carried on.

"I really don't think it works like that-" He tried before she cut him off with a glare.

"Promise that to me,"

"I promise to at least try," He finally allowed, taking his hand off. She sighed.

"That'll have to be enough..." She didn't make any other moves, just stood there in silence.

"We have to go back to Leon-san's," He reminded her gently, and she nodded numbly.

"Tell me you love me," She held his hand.

"You know that I do," He responded in slight confusion.

"I want to hear you say it though," She buried her face in his chest.

"I love you, Sayaka-chan. I love you so much," He hugged her back just as tightly.

"Thank you...now I can let you go. Now I can let you leave..." She sniffled, and they just held each other in the broken back-yard for several more minutes.

* * *

Maki, Kaede, and Sayaka stood on the steps of Leon's front porch, watching the four men make the final mental preparations before they set off. As instructed, they had nothing on their person and had only changed into heavy walking shoes.

"Bye Kuwata-kun," Kaede waved slowly, smiling a sad smile.

"Make it back alive," Maki directed with a sideways glance.

"Remember what you promised," Sayaka told Makoto, who nodded.

"I won't ever forget," He said.

Yasuhiro whistled between his fingers and Blavatsky came running over, barking happily.

"Well, let's go. Better get going before I completely lose my nerve," Leon suggested, looking just as distraught as Kaede, his eyes glittery. Makoto blew a kiss to Sayaka, who looked ready to start crying again. The four men turned around and started to walk, heading down the street side-by-side. They reached the middle of the street. The sun shone down hotly; a bird started to sing.

Once they reached the end of the block, they turned around once more to look behind them. Makoto, Leon, and Kaito all waved again. Sayaka, Kaede, and Maki all waved back at them. They turned around and walked to the end of the street, then crossed it. And just like that, they were gone.

"Well, that's that," Maki said slowly, a steady hand on her stomach.

"Oh God," Kaede looked ready to cry.

"I want to make some tea, I'm thirsty," Sayaka commented, going back inside the house. The other two women followed her, helping her make it.

They began to wait.

* * *

The four of them continued to walk slowly down the southwest road, not saying anything. They passed the burial sites, then reached close to the outskirts of the actual city; the marker was just in front of them. For a moment Makoto wondered if they'd all just turn back around and go back home; in front of them was uncertainty, darkness, and despair, while behind them was hope, warmth, and love. Still, they kept on going. Blavatsky ran ahead of them, happily sniffling at some wildflowers.

"Aw man, I feel like this is the end of everything," Leon suddenly cried out, sounding close to tears.

"Yeah...it really _does_ feel that way," Kaito sighed in agreement.

"Does anyone want to take a break?" Yasuhiro joked half-heartily.

Makoto just walked ahead of them. "Come on, don't you guys want to live forever? It's not all bad. The view is nice," He smiled a bit.

That night, they camped six miles outside of Hiroshima, moving away from the more hilly part of Japan and getting closer to the sea-side. None of them slept well that first night. Already they felt horribly far from home, and that they were covered by the shadow of death.


	25. Kyoko 1: Smile in the Name of Despair

_I see trees of green, red roses too,_  
_I see them bloom for me and you._  
_And I think to myself what a wonderful world._  
_I see skies of blue and clouds of white._  
_The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night._  
_And I think to myself what a wonderful world._

**Part 6; Despair; September 7th, 1994-January 9th, 1995**  
**Kyoko 1: Smile in the Name of Despair**

**#####**

**Saga; September 7th, 1994**

* * *

Byakuya sat in front of a tidy convenience store, wearing a white suit finely tailored for his larger frame, playing cards with a Yakuza princess wearing a heavy red coat and tight jeans, a cigarette in her mouth. The two had been placed out on a watch service to keep an eye on a man Junko said was sent by the other side to spy on them. Her orders were very clear; do whatever you must to subdue him, but leave his head untouched. She planned to send both his head and the head of the other spy back to the community in the east as a warning.

"Besides, we could let him think he's fooled us by welcoming him in here with open arms...but where would the fun in that be?" She had asked, laughing in that insane way of hers.

A month or so ago, Byakuya would've found himself shivering at that laugh, but not anymore. He threw down some more cards.

"Maybe we shoulda been playin' for money," Natsumi groaned. "'Cuz that's something I'd be good at!"

"Nobles like myself have had intensive training in this very sort of thing practically since birth. Sorry, Natsumi-chan, but you don't stand a chance against me," Byakuya stated, drawing a card.

A shiny blue car slowly drove past them on the road, nearly stopping before it sped up and drove off again. He stared at it for some time, trying to place its familiarity when Natsumi suddenly gasped and threw down her cards.

"That's the car he was supposed to be driving! That big shiny blue one! I'm pretty sure that's our guy!" She called eagerly, taking a large drag of her cigarette. Byakuya was beside her in a moment, moving quite fast despite his big size. "Let's get him," She smirked suddenly, sliding a gun out of her coat pocket.

* * *

Kizakura had been driving for three rainy days in a row and was starting to feel just as grey and miserable as the weather. It wasn't storming or anything, thank goodness, but regular rain could be hard enough on its own to navigate through sometimes.

At first he had just stuck to the main roads, weaving his way in and out of stalled traffic to the best of his ability. Eventually, though, the traffic became so bad he stuck to lesser-traveled country roads after three more days. The atmosphere had changed into something more eerie and unsettling as he passed through long stretches of empty countryside where telephone wires were knocked down. The skies never fully turned black at night; instead, they remained a mystic shade of very dark purple around the edges.

The further he drove out, the more he couldn't soothe the feeling in his heart that he'd never see Hope's Peak again and its inhabitants, like Sayaka, Kaede, that Yamada boy, and Chihiro. He felt like Izanagi descending into the depths of Yami to reclaim his dead wife, except he wasn't trying to find such a thing. He stopped briefly for a light lunch before continuing on, knowing he was getting closer when he saw the half-picked-apart corpse of a hanging man. He winced a bit.

Once he reached the end of Honshu, he took one of the smaller boats and rowed himself over onto the next island, making sure to end up at a shore further away from Nagasaki. After all, it'd do no good to just wander right in first thing, right?

Two days before he was spotted, he was resting up in a run-down hotel that had a battery-powered heater in it, and marveled at the thought of finally being warm for the first time in a week. He turned it on and placed it by the foot of his bed, changing into something looser and beginning to read while tucked into bed.

After a while, he looked up and tensed at the sound of something eagerly tapping on his window, making him glance around the room from fear he had been found out. He found a large black crow pecking impatiently at his window instead and just smiled.

"Just a crow...as long as I don't catch its glance, I'll be alright," He mused to himself. "Maybe I really _did_ cross over into Yami somehow..."

The crow continued to peck at the window, and Kizakura stared at it for a while, noticing the outer rims of its eyes were dark red. Why? Was it just from the reflection, or was it...something else?

Fighting back a shiver, he finally managed to break his stare away and noticed his gun laying beside his bag. In a wild surge, he grabbed it and aimed it right at the window. "Take this!" The crow cawed out in sudden fear and took off, and Kizakura lowered the gun, panting.

It was just a crow, why was he getting so worked up over it? He shook his head and tried to go back to sleep, pushing the thought of the crow from his head. It was a bad omen, he just knew it. Something was off about that crow. Something was off about this whole town.

* * *

The car had been gone for only a few minutes when Byakuya and Natsumi finally got themselves composed and chased after Kizakura.

"Remember, just the head. Everything else can be ruined but the head," Byakuya reminded Natsumi, who just nodded.

"Yeah, sure, whatever,"

"I mean it, Natsumi-chan. First, though, we gotta show ourselves as not being threatening. You walk over to him. Put a bit of sass into your walk or something, then knock him out when he's distracted," Byakuya continued, adjusting his glasses.

Natsumi nodded again, running her hand down the front of her coat where her gun was hidden. She jogged over to where Kizakura had stopped his car and started to slowly walk, offering him a smirk when he got out of the car.

"Well, am I lucky or what? Didn't think someone like you would come greet me," He teased. She twirled a strand of her hair around on her finger.

"Ya ain't going to shoot me with that gun of yours, right?" She asked, motioning to it at his hip. He shook his head.

"Not as long as we remain friendly with each other," He bowed. "Kizakura Koichi, a pleasure," He tipped his hat.

"Kuzuryuu Natsumi," She felt her smile grow wider as she slipped the gun out of her coat and aimed it at him.

"Damn it!" Kizakura reached for his own gun right as Natsumi shot him in the stomach, making him fall back into the mud. The rain had picked up slightly.

"Come on now. Don't give us any trouble," Byakuya emerged from the shadows, holding out his own gun. "Just come with us, nice and easy now,"

"Luckily for you, I'd never shoot a girl," Kizakura fired several rounds at Byakuya before dashing back into his car. He heard the sound of a heavy body dropping into the mud but didn't stop to investigate; instead, he ran back to his car and tried to lock the door.

"That was your mistake," Natsumi shot after him, giving chase and keeping her footing on the slick ground. Kizakura managed to lock his door and aimed his gun out the window, firing at Natsumi. She jumped onto her hands and dodged his bullets athletically before she gracefully jumped back onto her feet and shot the back window of his car. "Come on! Just die already!"

Kizakura sighed a bit and placed his hand on his stomach, looking at the amount of blood slowly blooming outward. "They knew, somehow. They knew I was a spy sent out...I fear for the others they chose," He whispered to himself as Natsumi elbowed her way into his car hard, shooting her gun straight into his face. The result was a messy explosion that covered Natsumi in some of the resulting blood.

She gasped heavily and heard the rain loudly patter around her as she dropped her gun in the soft mud.

"Byakuya?" She asked, slowly stepping back over to him. Her eyes widened when she realized he had been killed, then she laughed. "Useless dude anyway. I did it! I did my job! I killed him!" She laughed more before her bloodlust finally died down and she peeked back into the car, realizing in horror she had blown Kizakura's head clean off.

"Oh no..." She gasped, hearing the low cawing of a crow from somewhere near her. Her coat was starting to soak through with rain and her hair stuck to her face. The crow eyed her strangely, and Natsumi picked up her gun and aimed it at the bird. "I didn't mean to! My instincts took over! She'll understand that, right? All instinct!" The bird continued to silently judge her. "Stop looking at me like that! Dumb bird!" She cried and shot at it several times; the crow took off in fear.

"Serves you right," She forced a smirk onto her face and hugged herself tightly, trying to tread back away from the crime scene. All witnesses were dead, so it was like she was never there at all, right?

_I want his head unharmed so I can send it back lookin' all pretty!_

Natsumi shuddered and quickened her pace, slipping on the mud slightly. Her sneakers had no traction, she realized then. She heard another sound over the pouring rain, a sadistic laugh that made her blood run cold.

"Upupupupupu!" She felt long, manicured hands wrapping themselves around her neck, silently choking her and depraving her of air. She struggled heavily, gasping out.

"N-No...! Gah...f-fuck you!" She managed before her eyes started to roll back into her head.

"Upupupu...you messed it up big time, didn't ya, Natsumi-chan?! Ah well, we all make mistakes from time to time!" The girl with the bear in her hair let Natsumi's limp body collapse unceremoniously into the mud; three bodies were burned later that day. Nobody questioned where they came from or who they used to be.

**####**

**Nagasaki; September 8th, 1994**

* * *

Kyoko Kirigiri lay in bed naked, listening to the shower run loudly in the next room and staring at her reflection in the giant mirror just across from the bed. Laying flat on her back like that reminded her of the autopsies she often witnessed her family performing; the body laying flat on the table, sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a sheet, but always being poked and prodded at.

Kizakura had been dead less than eighteen hours, and she wondered how on Earth Junko could've figured it out. Sending a middle-aged alcoholic? Even Kyoko herself would have trouble trying to figure that one out. She figured it out somehow though, because a group of people were all sent to different nearby cities to scope out the scene and try to capture him.

But something had gone horribly, horribly wrong. Everyone seemed quiet and pale-faced for the past day. How had she known, though? Kyoko's first assumption was a spy over in Hope's Peak; it wasn't just an idea for them, after all. But Aoi had told her sending spies had been solely the council's idea, and she didn't think any of them were secretly on Junko's side. Miss Chiaki would've known if any of them had secretly been harboring feelings of despair. So that meant the obvious answer was the more unsettling one-Junko had just known.

She herself had been in Nagasaki for a total of eight days and was seen as a respected member of the community already, having gathered enough information about their operations to scare everyone back at home. All she had to do was tell them about how they managed to get airplanes working again and Kazuichi Souda and Miu Iruma were thinking of teaching people how to fly them. What personally scared her, though, was how Junko's name was almost a 'don't take it in vain' type of deal. Everytime someone mentioned it during the day, the room would grow quiet and people would try to cross themselves or awkwardly look away.

At night, everyone sat around the lobby of the hotel and drank beer and spoke in hushed tones about Junko's true identity. Kyoko had heard it all and had trouble telling fact from fiction. They never referred to her as 'Junko' or even simply 'Enoshima' in those discussions though, she was always 'the girl with the bear in her hair'. 'The fashionista'. 'The true face of despair'. 'High-heeled hoe'. On and on it went, like she was a genie to be summoned from a bottle.

If she had known about Kizakura, surely she knew about her as well?

The shower finally turned itself off and Kyoko found herself wondering what kind of environment Hajime had come from prior to make him so obsessed with cleanliness. He walked out then, clad in his towel, carrying a fancy box.

"Oh? What's in there? A present?" She asked sweetly, running her hand through her hair.

"Yeah, it's from _her._ She said you might like to open it,"

Kyoko very slowly took the box from Hajime and unwrapped it, her eyes widening when she saw what was inside-an extremely fancy set of cream lingerie.

"She said you should wear that tonight," Hajime continued, and Kyoko gave him a smirk.

"My, it's even modeled after that darling dress Shirogane-chan made for me too! She's really so thoughtful," She pulled the lingerie out of the box and slipped it on right with Hajime watching her, trying to make it into a show. In reality, she was silently cringing inside her head. How much longer until her fake perkiness act got found out?

The set was cream-coloured and lacy, with a large silk bow tied around her waist. It was sheer and see-through, revealing the tiny panties underneath.

"We have time for a quickie, it's still early," He said, and gently took Kyoko's gloved hand and laid her back down in the bed. She could feel his member starting to harden through the towel.

"Take that off first. I don't like it," She said suddenly, glancing away from his necklace.

Hajime nodded and pulled it off, placing it on the nightstand next to them. "How's that?"

"A million times better," Kyoko nodded, reaching her arms behind his back and pulling him closer as they started to kiss. Hajime left the top half of her lingerie alone and instead slowly ran his hands down her sides, pressing the sheer, silky material close to her body. In one quick motion, he pulled her thin panties down and lined himself up with her, inserting himself into her roughly.

Kyoko remained silent at first, placing another kiss on his lips when he started thrusting into her. He was muscular and Kyoko was thankful she had learned his rhythms on her fourth day there so she could easily keep up.

"How does this feel?" He asked, still thrusting into her. Kyoko blushed heavily and gave him a sweet look.

"It feels good...I love it..!"

"Huh?"

"I said I love it!"

"Louder,"

"I said that I fucking love it! Fuck me harder, Hajime-kun!" She yelled out, thinking about how she wanted to throw him out the window.

"I bet _she_ likes it when you yell that too," Hajime offered before he cummed into her. Kyoko had been expecting that and thrust her hips out, crying out and faking her own orgasm.

"I know she does..." She breathed heavily. "She was probably watching us too," She glanced over at the skull necklace left on the nightstand and widened her eyes slightly. The empty eye sockets seemed to be fixated on her in particular, and she gave an intense stare back.

_It sees me. It sees_ through _me,_ She suddenly thought.

* * *

Afterwards, since Hajime still had some time left before he had to head downstairs, he began to talk and get dressed while Kyoko remained in bed, still dressed in her lingerie. She always preferred the talking aspect of their time together, as it was when she learned all of the inner-workings of Junko's own group. Every time, it was the same; dressing while he spoke to her.

"I'm glad I wasn't with them today. Kuzuryuu-san isn't going to be very happy when he learns his sister was killed. She kinda deserved it though, I heard her bloodlust got the best of her." Hajime finished pulling his pants up with a belt.

"How did she know?" Kyoko asked slowly.

"She just did. She just knows everything," Was Hajime's answer, and she suppressed a shiver.

"How's the military project going?" She asked instead.

"Great! As great as it can, anyway. Iruma-san found out a great way to subtlety hide missiles at the top of certain models, and of course Komaeda-san supplies a never-ending chain for her to experiment with," He explained. "He may not be great for much, but at least he does what he's told. He always is out traveling into the countryside these days with that Go-Kart of his Souda-san got all souped up for him,"

Kyoko nodded again. She had only met Nagito twice, briefly, and both times filled her with a sense of horror and awe. He took to wearing black leather around the group with one mitten covering up part of his hand. The others had no idea whether to be scared or fascinated by him. "What's he doing out there?"

"Don't know and don't care. I think he's out looking for things we can use like weapons and things of that nature," His shirt had been slipped on. "Anyway, I gotta get going. And you have to go to work too, right?"

"I do," Kyoko affirmed, starting to dress when he was out of the room. Even to work, she wore a tiny dress Tsumugi had made for her; a black velvet blouse with a cross attached, a small green miniskirt puffed out by a hoop, brown gloves, sturdy black boots, and her usual yellow hard hat and matching vest. She tied her hair back into a braid with a green ribbon and slipped the knife out of her sleeve. Hajime never saw her dress or undress for that very reason. A girl always had her secrets.

* * *

Half the time, Kyoko worked alongside two women named Mikan Tsumiki and Tsumugi Shirogane as nurses, and the other half of the time, her and Mikan did utility work while Tsumugi repaired cars and organized tools down at the military base. Today would be a utility day where she was set to repair or replace any broken or burnt-out bulbs around the main part of the city, so she got to it, catching up with Mikan.

"Hi!" She greeted cheerfully. Mikan was a soft but plain girl who wore a see-through white T-shirt, cut-off jean shorts, sensible sneakers, and her own yellow hard hat and vest. She was quiet and subtly kind and Kyoko often wondered what such a sweet girl like her was doing on Junko's side. The possible answer bewildered her so much she didn't consider asking Mikan.

Actually, if Kyoko were being honest with herself, the vast majority of everyone in New Nagasaki were very kind and pleasant people. Sure, there were a few here and there who were suspicious or creepy or mean, but most were the sort you'd see walking down the street of your neighborhood in the pre-pandemic world.

Not only that, but they were super hard workers. In Hope's Peak, people had a tendency to mainly idle around and take long lunch breaks even if they were certain of what they needed to be doing. Here, though, everyone worked from nine to five, and the children even went to school.

Kyoko finished climbing up the ladder and opened up her toolkit, finding the streetlight bulb to be burnt out. With a nod, she untwisted the broken one and looked down to reach for her new one-

She froze.

A group of people had just come back from their own workshift and they were all taking glances up at her because she was poised up in the air. One of the faces, though, she recognized. A sweet, innocent, naive face...

_Is that Gokuhara Gonta-san?_ She questioned herself, and immediately knew it to be true. But why? Who would send him as a spy? It was absolutely-

_Brilliant._

She looked down again and saw the people dispersing on their way back to their own houses, thinking to herself she might've been seeing things.

"Kirigiri-chan? Are you alright? Um, did you fall asleep?" Mikan asked shyly, looking up at her. Kyoko snapped out of it and shook her head.

After she changed the bulb, she climbed back down the ladder and headed back to the hotel on the bus, sitting inbetween Tsumugi and Mikan; the latter of whom stared at her curiously.

"Are you okay? You seem...far away," She tried, and Kyoko nodded again.

"Just tired from a long day of work," She reassured her.

"Aren't we all?" Tsumugi added.

_It wasn't Gokuhara-san at all, right? Was it?_

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up! Get up, goddamnit!" A voice angrily yelled out at her in the middle of the night, and she was suddenly aware of being thrown out of her bed onto the cold, hard floor. She was still naked. "Get up!"

Kyoko forced herself alert and glanced around the dark room to see the angered faces of Kuzuryuu, Teruteru, Tsumugi, and Mikan. Hajime was standing in front, his arms crossed over his chest and a look of betrayal on his face. What hurt Kyoko the most though was the overly hostile stare Mikan was giving her.

"Tsumiki-" She tried as she slowly stood up.

"You were spying on us the whole time? I should've known. Why would she give me a wife as a present for no reason?!" Hajime carried on. "Get dressed, you're getting brought to her,"

_She knew about Kizakura-san. It was only a matter of time before she learned about me too,_ Kyoko thought to herself, standing there.

"Um, didn't you hear him? He said to get dressed...and then it's time for you to go!" Tsumugi demanded.

"I don't dress in front of men," Kyoko looked away.

Hajime tried to lunge at her, being held back by Kuzuryuu and Teruteru. Kyoko just stood there, staring at them.

"Come on, the girls can watch her or something," Kuzuryuu glanced back at her. "You're in a lot of trouble," She thought she saw compassion in his eyes briefly.

"What if she tries to jump out the window?" Tsumugi cried.

"I won't let her," Mikan promised, wearing a gun on her hip.

"I hope you get an STD and it falls off," Kyoko waved after the three men who left along with Tsumugi, leaving her alone with Mikan.

"Get dressed," Mikan commanded.

Kyoko slowly started to slip on her panties.

"It's not very nice to come over here and secretly spy, you know. You could really hurt someone's feelings. You deserve everything my beloved is going to do to you," Mikan continued, a dark expression on her face. "She's not going to forgive you for this at all, and neither will I,"

"She gave me to Hinata-san as a literal wife. I found out he was a good source of information and took it," She shrugged. "I had a reason to be here,"

"Be quiet!" Mikan glared at her.

"What do you think all of those jets and weapons and whatnot are actually for? She's planning to use those to attack Hiroshima and wipe out everyone who lives there," She laced up her skirt.

"I hope she does! All she ever says is that it's either us or you guys. I don't think it'd be that great a loss..." She trailed off.

"You're just afraid of her," Kyoko paused in her dressing to smirk.

"Get dressed!" Mikan grabbed the gun and Kyoko covered her mouth.

"I'm going to be sick!" She dashed into the bathroom and hurriedly locked herself in there, making loud retching noises as she searched through the medicine cabinet.

"You're not sick!" Mikan accused, trying to jiggle the knob. "Open up!"

Kyoko fake-retched again and slipped the knife back onto her wrist, pulling her blouse on hurriedly over it. She heard other voices in the bathroom and someone trying to kick the door down.

"I'm sick," She flushed the toilet and ran some water in the sink before the door finally burst down and Mikan was standing there with the others, glaring angrily.

"Time to go," Kuzuryuu said simply, grabbing her.

"I was sick and had to vomit. I'm sure everyone is sad they couldn't have seen, hm?" She mocked and Hajime roughly jostled her.

The group held her arms tightly as they walked down the stairs to the front desk, Kyoko staring at how nicely-decorated everything was. Hajime leaned over that very desk and pushed an intercom button.

"Enoshima-chan, we have her," He commented, and Junko gasped cutely.

"Ohmigosh, I'm so happy! Send her right on up! Alone, if you please!" She turned her side off.

"Time for you to go," Hajime stared at Kyoko levelly, who crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Say I disagree,"

"Then we drag you in there,"

She smirked. "None of you could drag a puppy in there. Look at poor Tsumiki-chan, she looks as if she wants to faint. Or wet herself. Not a good look for you,"

"Shut up!" Mikan whimpered.

"I was never afraid over there. I always felt good about who I was and what I was doing. Maybe you should have a talk like that among yourselves one day and then you'll realize. She's only manipulating you. She makes you afraid because she has nothing else to make you feel," And with that, she stepped away and turned the knob to enter Junko's domain.

She found herself thinking:_ I am Kirigiri Kyoko; daughter of famous detectives, daughter of Patient Zero. I have been afraid, I have made mistakes, but she cannot take away anything vital to me that I wasn't already going to lose. I will not falter in my composure. I won't die foolishly. I will defy her until my very last breath._

And then she walked in.

* * *

The office was coated in glittery pink and flouncy materials for as far as the eye could see. Antique flowery dishes hung on the walls and the large window overlooking the balcony was decorated in pink Magic Marker. The moon was nearly full. Standing in front of the window was the shape of a woman, and Kyoko must've announced her presence in some way, as the woman begun to turn around slowly, making Kyoko tense up.

She expected to see someone faceless, or wearing the face of a hideous creature, but instead her first thought upon seeing her was that they looked the same age.

Her strawberry locks were curled and crimped into thick pigtails and she wore a pair of hoop earrings and a sleek black business suit with a pencil skirt and green trim; matching polish and lipstick. Two bear-shaped hair clips were on the side of her head, designed to look like Kuma-chan. Her shoulders were heavily padded. She gave Kyoko a grand smile and flashed her a peace sign.

"Hiya girl!~"

"Hello," Kyoko remained where she was, uneasy. She was literally dragged out of bed on her orders...but what were they, exactly?

"You seem so startled! Why? I even tried my hardest to put on my cutest and most adorable outfit for you!" Junko rubbed at her dry eyes. Kyoko thought she looked more like a housewife than anything. "Did my mean old servants scare you?"

"They seem more scared of you than anything," Kyoko mused.

"I think that's just Hajime-kun. I rescued him from a terrible circumstance and now he literally owes his life to me! But I think he also sees me as..like, one of those people who did that to him. Like I'm the same or something." She waved her hands dismissively. Kyoko wondered if that was why he had such issues with cleanliness and found herself feeling pity for him. "Sit, sit! We have lots to talk about!"

Kyoko glanced around the room, noticing the one thing missing from the frou-frou design of the place.

"Only liars sit in chairs. And you aren't a liar, are you?" Her eyes glittered dangerously, and Kyoko shook her head and gingerly sat down, adjusting her skirt and shoes. Junko sat down across from her gracefully. "You were sent here to spy on us."

"Yes." Why deny it?

"And you know what happens to captured spies during times of war?"

"Yes."

"Then, like, it's a totes good thing we're not at war then!" She laughed.

"...What?" Kyoko stared in confusion.

"Like, have we ever attacked your group?

"No,"

"And have you attacked us?"

"No!"

"Then we're not at war!" She laughed in a cutesy way. "I'm honestly just a teensy-bit jealous of your community. You're kinda like a hive mind! While my people are all spread around. I can't even think about attacking anyone yet! Oh, poor me!"

Kyoko frowned at how submissive her language suddenly became. "You had Kizakura-san killed. You killed him and now you're going to kill me too,"

Junko rolled her eyes. "He, like, wasn't supposed to die! That was on Natsumi-chan for fuckin' up the way that she did! I just wanted him captured and brought here so we could have a nice talk. Like the one you and me are having right now. Doesn't that sound fine?"

She said nothing for a time. "If you want peace, why all of the jets and weapons here?"

"Those are all totes for defense!~ I'm sure you guys are all doing the same thing!" She cooed.

"When I left, they were still trying to get the power back on," She tugged at her sleeve subtly, feeling the familiar weight and comfort of the knife.

"And they, like, totally got it working again! All thanks to that gorgeous Yasuke-san, I bet!" She laughed. "You guys have your tech people and I have mine,"

"How did you know that?"

"I have my ways. Did you know that Lady Nanami came back too? Adorable child," Junko tapped her nail against her earring.

"She did?" Kyoko asked in shock.

"Yup, but she's dead now. A pity. I wish I could've met her in person..." Her eyes looked to be far-away. "Are you shocked that she is?"

"I'm more shocked that she came back at all," She admitted.

"Yeah, I heard she died from shittin' her fuckin' brains out!" She laughed. "Ain't that great for a fuckin' leader?!"

"Did she say anything?" Kyoko pressed.

"I heard she was delirious from fever or some junk like that. So I don't think she did," She grinned. "But you seem lonely and homesick, Kyoko-chan. So here," She reached into her briefcase and pulled out several maps of the south island with population growth marked in red. "I know where their people are, so Imma be kind and show them where mine are. Tell them I'm not going to hurt them, and to also tell them to stop sending spies. If they gotta, then be open about it,"

Kyoko took the maps and looked them over with a nod, feeling numb.

Junko rose then, her thick black pumps clicking away loudly on the floor. "I'll even give you a going-away present! A nice motorcycle! Ya like? Ya always struck me as a biker kind of chick. I'll have Hajime-kun wrap it up and set it out on your boat for you," She tapped the intercom button to do just that.

Kyoko stood as well, her eyes wide. "You're letting me go?"

"Of course! We're all friends here. I've been wanting a girl my age to have some girl talk with and we had fun, did we not?" Junko grinned. "You are absolutely free to go! As long as you do one final thing for me,"

"What?" Kyoko asked slowly, suddenly afraid.

"There's one more person of yours on this side. Now, who could it possibly be?" She asked with a pout, resting her fist on her chin.

"I don't know!" She answered easily. "And besides, how are you sure it's just one more? The council was very careful on who to send and what to tell us, just in case something were you happen,"

"Like torture?" Junko stared her down.

"I was approached by Asahina Aoi-san...I'm guessing Kuwata-san sent Kizakura-san...and who knows about the rest. All of them could've sent someone," She shrugged.

"They could've, but they didn't. There's one left," Junko smiled a terrible, unnatural grin. "And you know who it is,"

"I don't," Kyoko stepped back towards the door.

"Hajime-kun? Couldja wait just a teensy-tiny bit on that motorcycle? Kyoko-chan and I still got some stuff to figure out," She pressed the intercom.

"Okay," Hajime responded.

"You never intended to let me leave, did you?" Kyoko was a few steps away from the door.

"Awww, does someone have trust issues from being consistently ass-raped by those mean men in that gross harem over the summer?" Junko mocked. "Can't you trust me? We're all girls here,"

Kyoko paused in her moments, and Junko finally stood and made her way over to her, staring her down.

"I know you know who the third spy is. And you're going to tell me, one way or another," She reached her hand out for her.

"I can't tell you because I don't know!" Kyoko shot back in annoyance. "Why don't you know yourself? You knew about me and Kizakura-san, why don't you know about-!"

"Who?" Junko gently ran her hand along Kyoko's face, scratching her cheek with her manicured nails. "Tell me,"

"Why don't _you_ know?" Kyoko shot back.

"Because I can't see it!" Junko cried and pushed Kyoko across the room, slamming her into the window of the balcony. She hit it with her back and collapsed on the floor on her seat. She glanced up and saw the enraged face of the fashionista and drew back, her bladder releasing in that moment from her fright. It puddled up underneath her skirt.

"You'll tell me. You'll tell me what I want to know," Junko seethed, pointing her finger at her and stepping closer. "Or else you won't like the consequences,"

Kyoko very slowly stood up on shaky legs, feeling the knife still tucked away. She gave Junko an off-it smirk. "You're right. I _do_ know who it is,"

"You do? Tell me!" Junko brightened.

"Okay, but we're both girls here, right? So I want to whisper it to you,"

Junko nodded and stepped closer, closer, closer, until she was eagerly leaning forward in front of her.

"Here!" Kyoko yelled, yanking the knife out of her sleeve and rushing at Junko with it, stabbing it directly into her heart. She tried to pierce the flesh, her eyes widening when the knife bent back at just her clothes. "What...?" She took it off and ran her hand down the blade; it was plastic. "How...?"

Junko just laughed. "I guess you're all outta tricks! Sucks for you! Guess you gotta tell me what I wanna know!"

Kyoko threw the plastic knife down onto the floor and wildly looked around, knowing she was right. Her parents had died keeping information they oughtn't have, and now she was about to do the same. In the name of protecting someone else.

Her eyes caught the balcony window the same time Junko's did, and she ran over to it in a flash, feeling Junko trying to grab at her but only grabbing some loose strings off her skirt.

She threw herself through the window and heard a dull cracking sound as pieces of glass clattered down below into the parking lot. For a second, she laid there, bleeding, until she felt Junko grab her shoulder and start to yank her back inside. How long would she last being tortured? Not very long at all in the state she was currently in. She wouldn't let herself be killed by Junko herself.

Kyoko knew she was already dying and saw a large shard of glass jutting out.

_The last spy is Gokuhara-san, but you'll never know because you can't see it, because he's different from us-_

She whipped her head around and a giant cut of glass slit at her throat; the second gouged at her eye. She tensed for a second before she went entirely limp, and the thing Junko dragged back in was nothing more but a bloody corpse.

She screamed in rage, yanking out her pigtails and letting the tangled curls fall down. "Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you!" She screamed out as she dropped Kyoko's body limply on the floor. "How dare you defy me like this!" She took her heel and stomped down hard on Kyoko's body, then she did it again and again and again until her body had a dented bump in the side and she was laughing crazily.

Outside the room, the others listened on in pale-faced horror, and soon they all slowly drifted away aside from Hajime, who reminded simply because he knew he'd soon be required.

And a few minutes later, he was.

* * *

Junko was sitting at her flouncy pink desk calmly, her hair a ragged mess and her mascara running. Hajime never thought he'd seen her look so ragged. He glanced over at the indented corpse curiously.

"Get rid of that," Junko shook her hand at it in a dismissive way. "It's just garbage now,"

"Yeah. Do I keep the head, or...?" He asked.

Junko slammed her fist down on the desk. "No, because it's just fucking trash, ya fucking hear me?! Trash! I want it gone out of my sight this instant! Drag it out into the wilderness and burn it!"

"Of course," Hajime kept his tone level and carefully scooped up the body, feeling the sticky blood and imprints from Junko's heels. He didn't look back at her once as he left, but she was giving him a sweet smile.

* * *

First Kizakura, then Kyoko. Both had died without giving up what Junko had wanted. How or why, nobody really knew. Perhaps Junko's power and influence were finally starting to fade.

That night, her and Hajime stole away for the coastline, not to be seen for the next few days.

It was time.

* * *

On a bright and sunny afternoon on the tenth; two teenage girls were sitting together on a park bench, having arrived together several weeks ago and having been practically inseparable since then. They both cleaned cars and did electrical work. One of them wore an exaggerated version of formal court kimono; a deep red but with her cleavage spilling out and long slits cut up the sides for her legs; dangerously high.

Ibuki was happily watching one of the younger kids running around in the park and playing as she fiddled with the strap of her guitar case. As she watched, a man with long green hair and a mechanic outfit strode past and the little boy gasped.

"Big Brother Gonta! Play with me? I wanna be an airplane!" He giggled.

"That guy looks like he's drunk," The blonde girl snickered, making Ibuki look over at her.

"Hm? You mean Gonta-chan? He's not drunk, he's-" She was cut off by the sound of the boy cheering happily as Gonta spun him around.

After three spins, Gonta set the boy down gently. "Again, again! Please again?"

"But you might get sick if Gonta spun more! Besides, Gonta have to go back to his own house now!" He waved at the boy, who happily waved back and went to playing again.

Ibuki laughed. "Satoshi-chan loves Gonta-chan the most out of anyone else in this town, I reckon! Even more than he loves Ibuki-chan! And that makes her very sad," She pouted playfully. "He's simple-minded, but-" She looked over at the blonde girl and found a thoughtful expression on her face. "Huh? What's up?"

The girl watched Gonta carefully before finally asking: "Did he come here with another guy?"

"Huh? Gonta-chan? Ibuki has no idea! But she's not good at those sorts of things. So you should ask Hajime-chan or Korekiyo-chan. They keep track of stuff like that here!" Ibuki exclaimed. "All I know is that he came here a week ago. And Ibuki also heard that he used to be at the other community, but they drove him out! Oh well. Their loss is our gain, am I right?"

"And are you sure he wasn't with anyone else? Like a deaf-dumb? Whatever they're called? Deaf-and-dummy?"

"A deaf-mute? Nope, pretty sure he came here alone. All the kids just love him!"

The girl continued to watch Gonta until he walked off out of her sight. She thought of green tea in a bottle. Of a scrawled note that said_ 'I'm sorry. I don't think you'll be useful to us anymore'_. That was on Honshu, back in what seemed to be forever ago. She threw her shoes at them and then shot at them. She wished she had killed them, particularly that deaf-mute.

"Hiyoko-chan? Yoo-hoo? Earth to Hiyoko-chan?" Ibuki gently shook her.

Hiyoko Saionji just ignored her and watched Gonta walk off even further into the distance. She then started to smile a mean, mischievous smile.


	26. Hifumi 1: Dying Thoughts

**Hifumi 1: Dying Thoughts**

**####**

**Undisclosed Location; September 11th, 1994**

* * *

The dying man laid with his back pressed up against a tree, his broken leg stretched out in front of him. In his lap was a notebook and with the uncapping of a pen, he began to write. His characters became sloppier and closer together, like they tended to be when one was still in grade-school and only knew a few handfuls of kanji.

It reminded him of being younger, sitting at the kitchen table in his house; slightly plump but that was seen as cute at that age, his mother on the phone as he sat with a notebook in front of him as he tried to write fanfiction of his favourite book also spread out open in front of him; Boys' Detective Club by Edogawa Ranpo. Also beside him was a Diet Coke.

Gradually his writing had gotten better, and once he was thirteen he had been given the best gift of all; his own computer with a word processor for him to use as he pleased. Naturally, he did so, as even his sister had somewhat left him behind to hang out with Sayaka Maizono, and his parents never wanted anything to do with him anymore. Despite taking typing classes at school, getting the hang of it was slow work when one was actually trying to put words and sentences and paragraphs together and trying to remember which kanji meant which in each context. He kept at it though, and by the time of the outbreak he was at several hundred words a minute, though he never forgot about handwriting. The greatest novelists of all time wrote their projects by hand, after all, and his current style was one he was most proud of. It would be in that style he wrote his last thoughts in.

He wondered if his parents would be proud of him if they saw him now. He had made something of himself. He had lost his fat, and even though he was still technically a virgin, he was pretty sure he wasn't gay as his father always claimed he was.

Hifumi glanced down at his leg, broken and shattered and festering in a greenish-grey heap. His food was all gone and if it hadn't rained heavily for the past few days, he likely would've died from dehydration. He still had his gun with him; one round left after he fired the other two at Mukuro for leaving him behind. She was long gone now.

Looking back at it, it was her fault he was in this mess to begin with. Forgetting everything that happened prior with Hope's Peak; breaking his leg and leaving him for dead had been her doing.

They were driving together on their motorcycles; side by side by some steep cliffs when she suddenly drove up close to him and rammed her vehicle hard into the side of his own, making him cry out in surprise. The motorcycle skidded dangerously and smashed against a railing, making Hifumi fly off and roll down the cliff, hearing a crunch as something broke in his leg. He continued to roll and scream as his back smashed against a tree, making him pant. He finally glanced up and saw Mukuro standing at the edge of the rail, staring down at him with her face white.

"Mukuro, can you please hand me the rope?" He asked politely, almost fearfully. There was a long moment of silence before she started shaking her head. "Can't you hear me? The rope! So I can pull myself up!" She shook her head again. "Mukuro!"

He started trying to slowly drag himself towards her to see her expression, especially as her voice clearly drifted down towards him:

"I'm sorry. It's better this way. It was meant to happen like this,"

He kept crawling on, panting and finally get close enough to take in her expression; he shuddered. Blank and unconcerned. Her eyes weren't with him anymore. He hated her then, hated her as much as one could hate another, knowing she had planned that somehow, and subtly reached for his gun. "Mukuro-"

"_She_ made me do it. If I hadn't done this, _she_ would've, and would've done so much worse. She thinks you'll betray her and can't risk that chance," She stared down at him levelly.

"You betrayed her too! You were trying to give yourself up for hope!" He reminded her.

"I didn't though. Never once did I even let the thought cross my mind. We both need each other. We were born of the same womb, born to bring despair into the world. You were never in it, Hifumi. We may have sold our souls together, but now I want full price for mine," Her voice was a ghastly monotone. Hifumi pulled the gun out at that, aiming it at her and shooting. The bullet went long, bouncing off the railing loudly.

"You weren't expecting that, were you?!" Hifumi asked proudly. Mukuro's eyes were wide as she stared him down, taking a step back. He cocked the gun again and aimed it straight at her head, squeezing the trigger.

The shot ended up going long as well, and Hifumi began to slide down, hitting the back of the tree and passing out. Later he would assume it was Junko herself who interfered, preventing him from killing her sister before her time. When he finally came to, it was nearly dusk and Mukuro was long gone.

Eventually, he returned back to his writing.

_Is everyone dead, I wonder? The Ministers of Hope's Peak? If so, know that I'm terribly sorry for what I did. I was led astray. Out of all other excuses that I know, that's the best one. The girl with the bear in her hair is just as real as the Despair Disease. And when the end finally does come and all of the good people come across me in their time of judgement, I will tell them that exact thing. I was led astray._

Hifumi read through what he had already written and frowned a bit. It sounded pompous and grand and hypocritical. It sounded as if even death couldn't have given him the dignity he longed for; that he fancied himself to be a king but Junko was done with him and left him as a miserable bag of bones beside the highway. No, he needed something better. But what?

_I was something in Hope's Peak,_ he randomly thought to himself, and the simple ironic truth of that statement would've made him cry if he wasn't so dehydrated. He wanted to start his note over again, explain everything in the truest, palest, clearest way that he could. He wanted to write it and leave it for whoever would come across him, whether that be in a year or ten.

He thought for a while longer, tightened his grip on the pen, then finally started to write down:

_I apologize for all of the destruction that I have unleashed, though I admit I did everything freely. Back before all of this happened, I used to sign everything I wrote, no matter how bad it was, with Yamada Hifumi. Every single thing, every single time. My school work, my fanfics, I even wrote it down on a small flat-roofed house in giant characters. But this time, I'm not going to do that. Rather, I'd like to sign this with a name that I was given back in Hope's Peak that I couldn't accept then, but I fully accept now. I want to die in my right mind._

He sighed the paper with a single character:

_Hawk._

With that, he capped the pen, placed it back in his bag, left the notebook open on that page and placed it beside the motorcycle, then picked the gun back up and looked up at the sky. Everyone in his childhood always laughed and called him a wimp because he never followed through on even simple dares and challenges they asked him to do. Perhaps a single time would make up for all those other times, he mused.

He put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

* * *

East of Nagasaki, a woman and a man sat, a piece of meat being grilled inbetween them on a small fire. A light breeze blew and sent the smell of the pork out to some nearby wolves, and Junko Enoshima would toss out tiny pieces and watch and laugh as the wolves tried to destroy each other for the piece, but after a while even the wolves bored her.

She felt her wedges get buried into the sand everytime she shifted positions; they were white and rhinestone-encrusted to match her teal off-shoulder evening gown with cream veil covering her face. Aside from teal eyeshadow and lipstick, she wore no other accessories or makeup; her hair was left down for once. A tiny Kuma-chan ring was on her finger.

There was a lot on her mind that night.

At first she had been happy that the little girl had died, because secretly she was afraid of her, and had even told Kyoko Kirigiri that she had died from diarrhea and hadn't said anything. But was that true? She was once able to predict anything and everything that happened to her, but lately things had been falling more and more out of her control.

Kizakura had gotten shot.

The girl had eluded her at the last second, and how? She had known who the third spy was, she knew she did, yet she had been unable to stop her from jumping out the window and ending her life in such a barbaric way.

Who even was the third spy? Every time she tried to ask the spirits or whomever for guidance, she just received an image of the bright full moon and squirmy bugs. The image mocked her. It was one of the only things she didn't know, and she had no way of finding out anymore.

Then, there was Yamada. Yes, Yamada played his role perfectly well, dancing and running around like a puppet on a string. He did everything asked of him, yet even then he was only able to kill two of those stupid Ministers. Yes, one had been pregnant, but what difference did _that_ make? The bomb was intended to kill every single one of them, yet they were mostly saved by the return of that little blind cunt. And Hifumi was dead anyway, but he had almost managed to shoot at Mukuro! She hoped her dumb bitch of a sister was trained enough to avoid any bullets, but the fact he was nearly able to take her head off was extremely troubling indeed.

If Mukuro died, then what? She'd have no heir of hers to pass the legacy of despair onto! No energetic nephew or glamorous niece.

"The food is done," Hajime announced, making Junko look over. She stared at him for a while, pouting cutely.

"I can't eat it with my hands like that!" She huffed, and Hajime glared at her as he gingerly handed her a piece of pork skewered onto a stick.

"You take this wedding thing far too seriously," He commented, eating a piece himself. He was dressed in a luxurious black tuxedo with white trimming.

"Of course! I need myself an heir!" She explained.

Everything would work out just fine. She didn't even care about the bride, or the third spy, or Hifumi anymore. Nagito had gone off on his own again, scoping out old deserted military bases for any kind of weapon she could use to destroy that pitiful Hope's Peak community with. Nagito was an enigma to her, and she could never properly keep an eye on him like she could her other followers. She sometimes wondered if it was for the best, as Nagito was the most elusive of them and confused even her at times. Once she had confirmed the bride's pregnancy, that very spring, she'd send her jets over to Hiroshima and destroy them that way. Maybe she'd have her followers develop a new type of cholera or plague, one that could instantly cripple them due to their new environment. Just a few drops of it into their water supply and then boom!

She finished eating the pork and tossed the empty stick behind her and heard the wolves rush past, growling as they fought over it. She laughed sadistically at it. It was a good night.

* * *

Mukuro gasped a bit as her motorcycle finally died down, some fifty or sixty miles away from where she had last left Hifumi to die. Knowing she still had to go on, she continued on her way, stumbling a bit as she felt one of her kitten heels finally break and she tossed it over the bridge she was on as a result. She untied her sweater and placed it over her head as a makeshift way to protect herself from the humidity, though once night fell she found herself heavily shivering.

She found it ironic that her motorcycle was just another tick on a long list of causalities. Not only that but Hifumi and the entire council and all of the people they had invited to that explosive wedding reception of theirs, and Sayaka Maizono's and Aoi Asahina's unborn babies on top of that. She was truly a soldier at heart, a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. All in the name of her sister and future husband. So why did she feel a tiny aching in her gut over it?

Mukuro continued walking, soon slowly realizing her sister would've wanted her to walk that whole treaty length of distance anyway; so when she'd arrive she'd be a dehydrated, voiceless husk, willing to do whatever was asked of her. But wasn't she like that already? It was Junko's idea to plant those bloody knives and seven-round gun under Hifumi's bed for the council to discover, after all.

The nights were chilly and she soon realized she had left her camping materials back in her motorcycle. Her stance was forever crooked because she was missing one heel and the other was about to break as well, she could feel it. She must've been delirious, she marveled at herself.

After another night, she felt the ground under her become shifty and loose and wondered if she had finally reached the beach. The air was heavy and smelled of salty breeze. In the distance was a nice, familiar singing voice. She felt drawn to it but remained where she was, not about to get closer.

"Big Sister! Big Sister!" Junko's cheerful voice reached her, and Mukuro spun around to find her younger sister grinning at her happily, wearing a bridal veil of her own. "I was so afraid that you'd be late, but of course even someone like you wouldn't be. After all, why would you be late to your own wedding?!"

Mukuro ignored her and looked around for her mystery groom, not seeing him anywhere. She inquired about his whereabouts, making Junko laugh.

"Of course he's here, but you can't honestly expect you're going to be allowed to get married in that, right?" Junko gestured to Mukuro's dirty bridesmaid dress. "I don't have much to work with, but trust me! I'll make you look just like a little doll!"

Mukuro gasped a bit in surprise and just closed her eyes as Junko worked her magic on her, never moving until her sister said to. Finally, she slowly opened her eyes and looked into Junko's mirror.

"See? A doll!" Junko exclaimed happily, while Mukuro widened her eyes.

She wore a tiny frilly black cocktail dress that shimmered in the moonlight with heavy combat boots. Both her gloves and veil were made from black fishnets, and her makeup was carefully-selected from an array of blues and reds to make her resemble a diseased corpse, bleeding from the mouth.

"Now you're ready!" Junko giggled and pushed Mukuro over to the fire where Hajime was waiting, Mukuro taking slow and unsteady steps. Hajime wasn't looking at her.

"Are you really my groom? I've dreamed about you sometimes. Mainly of my sister, but you were there too, sometimes," Mukuro asked carefully.

"Yes. We were promised to each other. Lucky me, huh? I get rescued from starving to death and one of those catches is I have to impregnate the sister of my rescuer. Lucky me indeed," He stepped closer to Mukuro and pulled her close, kissing her. Her eyes widened as she suddenly felt a dark need and pleasure fill her, urging her to touch herself and rid herself of the desire for good.

"But why?" She asked once he finally pulled away.

"Because she created the two of us purely for destruction?"

"She never made me,"

"Then who knows? I guess we're just unlucky like that," Hajime shrugged again.

"What's your name?" They were holding hands in the moonlight.

"Just call me Hinata-san," He looked away. Mukuro took a chill and quickly pulled her hands away from his. She could feel Junko's eyes on her, watching her, carefully studying her.

"No," She finally whispered, looking from her groom to her sister. "I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this," And with that, she took off running, the sudden adrenaline rush allowing her to keep her balance on the sand.

"How foolish of her. She genuinely believes she can outrun you," Junko said darkly. "Hajime-kun...go rape her,"

"W-What?!" Hajime stared at her for just a moment of disbelief before he realized the stakes of the situation. Junko hadn't intended to just carry an heir; otherwise she would've asked Hajime to do that with her. No, her true plan was to force the two of them to fall into despair.

With a nod, Hajime took off running after Mukuro, easily catching up to her due to his enhanced speed. He yanked back on her hair and made her whip back in surprise, trying to elbow him.

"Sorry," He said before he tackled her down to the ground, tightly gripping her wrists to hold her down. The despairful arousal he had intended to see in her eyes, the expression that had haunted his own dreams so much...was not there. "Look," He carefully took one of her hands and placed it on his crotch, feeling her tense up at the warm and heavy sensation.

"No," She declared again, fruitlessly.

"OMG, let the bridal consummation begin!" Junko eagerly cheered from somewhere near them. The bright moon shone down on them.

Hajime slowly unbuttoned his pants and allowed his member to fall forward, and for once in her life, Mukuro felt emotion; true terror.

"Make him stop...you can stop this," She looked around for Junko, sensing her presence but not seeing her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to press her legs together tightly, but Hajime just pulled them apart easily, making her gasp out in surprise.

_The moon...if I just look at the moon,_ it'll be over sooner, Mukuro told herself, glancing up at the moon. She heard Junko's laughter just as Hajime forced himself into her, making her cry out in simultaneous pleasure and pain. Her features flushed as Hajime continued to thrust into her.

When he cummed that first time, Mukuro cried out in sheer agony; she felt molten lava coursing through her veins; filling her womb up and making her stomach burn. Hajime just kept going, pulling her face closer to his and kissing her. His eyes flickered from red to green to brown to hazel to pink to blue to yellow to even her own purple, finally making her scream. The second time, she cummed herself, and still Hajime continued going, filling her up endlessly with the feeling of molten lava and dead leaves, all while Junko laughed eagerly and the moon shone down on all of them.

* * *

The moon was nearly down when Hajime started cooking more pork for himself, his new bride, and the sister of the bride, though certainly not by choice. He remained silent as he cooked while Junko stared at Mukuro in fascination. Her eyes were blank and far-away; the stare of a doll. She had one hand in her lap, the other by her side. Curious, Junko picked up the hand in her lap and placed it in front of her mouth; there it remained. Junko then set it back down and all she got in response were two fingers twitching. She poked her cheek, then her eye. Still no response.

That didn't matter at all though. Mukuro was pregnant, she was sure of it, pregnant with her darling little niece! She couldn't wait. Mukuro existed then to purely be an incubator. She just had to grow her child, birth her, then kill herself if she so desired. But never before then.

"The food is done," Hajime gave Junko hers, and Junko responded by tearing smaller pieces off of it and feeding them carefully to Mukuro. The older woman ate a few pieces willingly, but most of them just fell out of her mouth. Junko just pouted.

"Come on, Big Sister, don't start trying to starve yourself now! Your daughter needs nutrition too!" She huffed. If Mukuro kept this up, she'd likely need to be seen by Mikan Tsumiki, probably. As much as that thought disgusted her, she needed to do what was best for her heiress. She caught Hajime's eye and grinned. "Nothing's better than some great food after some great sex, am I right? Isn't this such a romantic honeymoon, spending it out on the beach like this? Most people would kill for a honeymoon this nice! Be more grateful!" She laughed again.

The next morning, she had Hajime pack everything up and toss it into their car. He carried Mukuro into the car as well, sitting her in the backseat next to Junko, where she sat silently and still like a docile doll. Hajime set off, driving back to New Nagasaki.

"Break up with your man and get with me, girl, get with me, 'cuz that man of yours just ain't good for ya, he just ain't good for ya...!" Junko sang happily, nudging Mukuro. "Hey, didn't you used to hang out with that singer? You really get around, dontja, Big Sis?!"

Hajime stepped on the gas harder. Mukuro glanced out the window. Neither said anything.


	27. Hajime 1: Who's the Third?

**Hajime 1: Who's the Third?**

**#####**

**Nagasaki; September 14th; 1994**

* * *

Once the trio had arrived back at New Nagasaki, Junko took Mukuro away up to her room for the welcoming party while Hajime remained behind at his usual desk, looking over the reports of everything that had happened while he was gone. Luckily, not much he had to personally deal with. He had changed out of his tuxedo and instead wore a sleek green suit. As he was mulling over the papers, he heard someone stomp up to his desk and looked up, finding the displeased face of Miu Iruma.

Miss Miu Iruma; one of the few people who despite her brashness and natural harsh nature, knew Hajime was not someone to go up against. She was an inventor before the pandemic and was now one of the most esteemed and respected tinkerers New Nagasaki ever knew. She was wearing her bright pink mechanic jumpsuit, a helmet under one arm; fingerless black gloves on and a black scrunchie tied back in her ponytail.

"Yeah?" Hajime asked, not wanting to be delayed. "You look an absolute wreck,"

"That's cuz I _am_ a fucking wreck! Didn't ya hear?! A fuel truck exploded down there, a bunch of people got put in the hospital!" Miu spewed out quickly. "Kazuichi and I were one of the few lucky ones...I bet most of them are gonna kick the bucket come tomorrow,"

Hajime nodded. "What a shame. I'll let her know immediately. Anything else?"

"Yeah, I got somethin' more to say," She slammed her fist down on his desk and leaned forward. "Ya also tell Enoshima-sama that this all happened because of that creepy fuckwad Nagito! He was fuckin' around in some shit and blew up damn near the whole place!"

"I see," He sighed. "Why don't you go tell her yourself?"

Miu stepped back a bit, suddenly looking afraid before the fierceness returned to her expression. "Sorry for pullin' your dick about it so much, it's just...he's a creepy, destructive piece of shit! He might keep at this, and what if I or Kazuichi get killed? You just lost some of the best mechanics in this whole place!"

"No, I get it," Hajime ran his hands along on his temple. "How do you guys know it was Komaeda-san though?"

"Because! Who else would be dumb enough to do such a thing?" She demanded.

"I was told he was still out further down south, searching old military bases,"

"Guess he came back early. He was showin' us some stuff he got when one of the pilots started cracking jokes. At first, even he was laughin', but then it went too far or some shit like that I guess. Next thing we knew, the truck was rigged to blow, and blow it did! Right in our fuckin' faces!" She explained. "I just wonder about her sometimes. He's got that special necklace us higher-ups do, but I feel like he's too much of a whack-job to have it,"

Hajime nodded again.

"He did that shit because someone mocked him. Does that sound safe to ya? I want him gone," She made a slitting motion at her throat with her thumb. "Like that," She gasped, as if remembering something, then pulled part of her sleeve up. "Take a looker!"

He _did_ look, probably against his best judgement, as he quickly drew back at the burnt and scarred flesh marring her arm.

"Got this sucker trying to escape myself. I was close to the blast," She rolled her sleeve back down and looked away. "Look, all I'm sayin' is to get rid of that creepy bastard. Think we'd all be better off without him anyway."

Hajime wrote down her report, managed to thank her, and sent her on her way to Mikan and Tsumugi before he continued organizing his papers.

What was happening? Things were happening too quickly, too unpredictably. Junko had known about that old alcoholic, that had been child's play. She knew about Kyoko too, and eagerly relayed to them what she was going to do to her. Yet, she had escaped her at the last second. Junko herself had admitted she didn't know who the third spy, and here was Nagito, acting almost entirely on his own again. Last time he heard, Miu and Tsumugi had literally collared him and led him around by a chain hanging from his neck, commanding him to do or go where-ever or whatever they needed. He listened to everyone like a servant; in fact, the majority of the other higher-ups took to mocking him by referring to him as simply 'The Servant' instead of using his real name. So why had he suddenly acted on his own?

Nagito might've been a nobody back in the old days, but he wasn't anymore. He wore Junko's stone and wandered half of the country for her will. He had always served her faithfully, no matter his hesitance.

"Big Brother?" A voice called out to him, and Hajime looked up again to see a buxom blonde standing there; more golden than Miu Iruma. Her hair was tied back with a fancy pink kanzashi and she wore a frilly white, pink, and black furisode with a matching pink fan in her belt and black zori with regular white tabi. Despite the conservative nature of her clothing, her breasts still strained against the fabric, looking ready to pop straight through the outfit.

"What do you want?" Hajime asked, noticing for the first time that the girl looked pale and almost terrified, contrasting with her mature appearance.

"May I please go speak to Mistress Enoshima? I need to,"

"Huh-uh, I'm sure you do," He replied snarkily, not in the mood for pranks.

"Don't blow me off like that! I was told to go to her! She told me to!" The girl suddenly cried, tears appearing in her eyes.

Hajime sighed and got out another pen, also not in the mood for crocodile tears. "Who said that?"

She sniffled. "Big Sister Ibuki did,"

"I'm going to need a last name,"

"Big Sister...Mioda Ibuki,"

"And what's your name?"

"Saionji Hiyoko," She giggled weakly. "Saionji Hiyoko, pleasure to meet you," She bowed in a way that let him see down her kimono into her cleavage.

"Well, Saionji-san, she's not accepting visitors right now. The second she is, I'll send you up there, but for now, just tell me what it is you wanted to tell her and I'll tell her myself later," He stated.

"When will that be?" Hiyoko whined.

"I don't know. Now tell me what it is that's so important, or leave," He crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Hiyoko pouted.

"If it's something that she wants to know, can you please tell her I was the one who said it? Saionji Hiyoko," She bounced a bit.

"Alright,"

"You won't forget, will you?"

"No, I won't! Now tell me what the hell it is you have to tell me!" He yelled in frustration, and Hiyoko took a step back, looking offended.

"You don't have to be so mean and bully me like that!" She sobbed.

Hajime just sighed wearily and waited for her to grow tired of crying. Once she did, he started again: "Now, what do you have to say?"

"That dummy. I bet he's around here, spying on us. Did I mention that motherfucker pulled a gun out on me? A dick, am I right?" She sneered.

"Wait, what dummy?"

"That dummy friend of his! I already saw that retarded guy, so I figured he's here too. They're obviously not from our side, they're too nice. So if they're here, they gotta be spying, you know? Because they're both pussies!" She snickered while Hajime sighed.

"It's been a long day. Start making some sense, or I'm kicking you out," He ordered, and Hiyoko gasped in offense again.

"Fine, fine, stupid," She sat down on one of the chairs and felt herself sink in slightly as she crossed her legs. And then, she began to tell Hajime everything about meeting Chihiro Fujisaki and Gonta Gokuhara in her hometown. She mentioned the green tea; how she was just trying to tease the simple-minded one, but that deaf-dumb bastard pulled a gun out on her, and how she shot at them as they left town.

"And?" Hajime asked after she was done. "Everything you've told me proves absolutely nothing,"

Hiyoko put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "Isn't it obvious, Big Brother Hajime? They were sent here to spy, I bet! I already saw that stupid softie a few days ago,"

"Gokuhara Gonta was the name?" Hajime stared at her, and she nodded. He tried to put a face to the name and recalled briefly seeing Gonta around a few times, helping the technical crews. He was a big dark-haired guy, definitely a few lights off upstairs, but not as bad as that whiny bitch was making him out to be. People were streaming in almost daily, though, so he didn't know anything more about him. For more technical stuff, he'd have to go to Korekiyo Shinguji, who had detailed files about everyone in New Nagasaki.

"Ooooh, are you going to arrest him?" Hiyoko suddenly asked, her eyes lighting up in childish glee. Hajime just shook his head at her.

"I'm thinking I'm more likely to arrest _you_ for continuously bothering me,"

She gasped in true offense at that, jumping up and pointing a finger at him. "I'm just trying to do you a fucking favour, you pussy! And this is how you treat me?"

"I said I'd check it,"

"Yeah right! You ain't going to do shit!" She huffed out cutely, stomping her foot and storming out of the room in a childish way. Hajime just rolled his eyes. A brat was all she was, plain and simple. She was one of those people who'd cry and scream and fight until she was given exactly what it was she wanted, even if she was clearly in the wrong. Hell, it had been two months and she still had a grudge out for that mute guy. What even was his name? Fujisaki?

After he was sure she wasn't going to come back in some sort of tempered display, he made a note to himself on the computer's notepad feature. He rarely used the computer aside from making super important notes to himself about the community; specific things he had to tell Junko. He thought for a second before beginning to slowly type out:

**Fujisaki or Fujikawa Chihiro, or maybe Chiyo, in town somewhere? Mute. Check in with Shinguji-san about Gokuhara-san.**

After typing it out, he saved the note and shut the computer off, going back to his other notes. Eventually his mind left the thought of pouty Hiyoko Saionji and her grudge and her large breasts and instead on Nagito and what Junko might say or even do when he finally told her about him.

* * *

Shortly after Hiyoko stormed out of the hotel's lobby, Gonta was staring out of the window of the apartment he currently lived in, staring at the full moon. The moon was full. When the moon was full, that meant it was time to head back.

His apartment in New Nagasaki was vastly different from his house back in Hope's Peak. There were no bugs or strange decorations. Only bare furniture essentials. He was glad to be heading back though, because he soon realized he didn't really like New Nagasaki all that much. It had a certain feeling to it, a vibe Gonta couldn't quite put his finger on, only that it felt bad.

True, a majority of the people weren't bad and were every bit just like someone he'd find at Hope's Peak. He liked Ibuki and her passion for music. He liked Tsumugi and those cute suspender dresses she made herself. He liked Miu and Kazuichi because they loved to tinker with cars and electronics; they were intense but they reminded him fondly of Chihiro. He especially liked Gundham and his fascination with animals; once Gonta learned he too was deaf and actually tutored Chihiro in the past to be more eloquent, they had even more discussions.

Yes, everyone seemed to like him and nobody ever made fun of him for being slower and simpler in his thoughts. They all welcomed him in and gave him a job and laughed with him, even traded parts of their lunches for things he had sometimes. They were all very good people, but there was something off about all of them.

It was like they were pretending to be happy and helpful, but on the inside, they were afraid and despairful. Sometimes they'd just stop in the middle of what they were doing with dull looks in their eyes, or do whatever it was that was told of them without even questioning it.

He had seen Kyoko once, from Hope's Peak, briefly, and then never again. What had happened to her? Was she spying too? Did she ever make it back? Gonta found himself afraid to find out.

Gonta grabbed his backpack full of food and took a final look around, remembering he was to only travel at night and sleep during the day. He stepped outside and got on his bike, silently pedaling away on one of the back roads. The moon was bright and glaring, casting hard shadows on everything. Despite that, two hours later, he was still traveling, and not a single person back in New Nagasaki had noticed, not a single alarm was raised.

For the first night, everything went fine. Gonta was thankful to see New Nagasaki grow smaller and smaller in the distance with every pedal of the bike. The next night, however, he was suddenly paralyzed by a deep, dark sense of fear, one that could only belong to the smiling woman. Gonta secretly called her that, except when she smiled, animals puked their internal organs. When she smiled at you, your blood froze where it flowed in your veins, leaving you grey and pallid. When she walked past a construction site, the men would cheer and wolf-whistle, as they'd do normally, except when they'd return to their work, they'd find themselves putting shingles on upside-down and nailing their hands to boards and jumping off gutters.

He could feel her presence in the darkness, glancing around, looking for him, trying to find him.

In a panic, Gonta pedaled faster and harder, practically flying. He was leaned far ahead on his handlebars and had a crazy thought that that was the true reason why Junko couldn't find him. He felt his heart pounding and his breath growing heavy as the presence finally left him a few miles down the road. He could nearly collapse from both relief and exhaustion. He hadn't been found by her.

Gonta pedaled on until about five in the morning, finding a small forest he could take refuge in. After checking everything, he pulled his jacket off and placed it around his head, then fell asleep almost instantly under the shade of the trees.

* * *

Junko had finally returned back to New Nagasaki. It felt great to be back; to her, it felt as though nothing had even changed. Except now she was a sister of the bride or whatever they called it now, and was going to be an aunt! After she returned, she left Hajime down at his desk to tend to current affairs while she went back upstairs to her room. Several people stared in shock and surprise when Mukuro walked by, still covered in her corpse makeup and wearing a black gown torn around the chest area, a vacant look in her eyes. Junko paid them no mind and just grinned, waving to Hajime before the elevator doors shut.

Hajime kept himself busy for the next few hours, knowing Junko would want some time alone with Mukuro; doing what, he had no idea and no real desire to find out. Not only did he deal with Iruma's complaint, but also tried to dig up some more information on Gonta Gokuhara just in case that Hiyoko Saionji girl was onto something. She probably wasn't, given her attitude, but it was always better safe than sorry where Junko was concerned.

After organizing everything he needed, he sent a call down to the receptionist on another floor.

"Bonjour?" Celestia Ludenberg's heavy French accent filled his ears. Some of the others whispered about how it was fake, though never to her actual face. "Who is this?"

"Hinata-san,"

"Ah, Monsieur Hajime! How are you feeling today?"

"Fine, as fine as I can be. I just have a quick question. Can you call me over to Kazuichi-san? 7349?"

"Hm? I do not believe he is at home right now. I think he might be...down at the landing strip? I can ask Mademoiselle Mahiru to tell him you called," He could almost feel the syrup dripping from her sugary tone.

"Great, do that,"

"Monsieur Hajime, before you hang up on me, I was wondering...would you perhaps like to partake in some tea and cakes at some point? I fondly appreciate your company, yet I feel as though I rarely get it,"

"Soon, I promise," He grimaced a bit. Celestia Ludenberg was young, supposedly foreign, and was a gambler before the world ended, yet nobody could separate her truths from her lies. Hajime always wondered if she had a thing for him by how often she kept trying to ask him out. Regardless, she had proven to be a fast learner and seemed fascinated with learning how to operate phones; after the power had gotten back online that was their first priority. She was harsh on the other operators, but did her own job with patience and pride. She also had a strange fondness for chocolate-buttercream cake.

He had a sudden though that Hiyoko might be more tolerable if her body was paired with Celestia's skills and mild-mannerisms.

After a few seconds, he heard another phone dialing as Celestia reconnected their connection, and Hajime cleared his throat.

"Hello?" A quiet voice asked after a few more seconds. "This is Shinguji,"

"Really? Great, just the person I was looking for." Hajime sighed in relief.

"What is it you requested?" Shinguji was a quiet, tall man who normally kept to himself, making records of everyone who arrived in New Nagasaki as well as their jobs. Nobody expected him to be great at it; he was nearly perfect at it. Most found him strange because he insisted on wearing old-fashioned green-grey uniforms everywhere and a black mask over his face, even in the humidity. Junko told Hajime once in a random mood that come 1995, he would receive a promotion, though she didn't say what that'd further entail.

"Do you have your records with you?"

"Always."

"Can you look up information on a Gokuhara Gonta-san for me?"

There was a minute or two of silence before Hajime heard a page flip.

"I found him here...estimated to be around late twenties or early thirties, he himself strangely did not confirm. Light mental issues, but a few working skills. Had him on construction," Shinguji read out.

"How long has he been here?" Hajime pressed a key on his keyboard over and over again with the end of a pencil.

"I would say less than three weeks. A very interesting person he is, though,"

"From Hiroshima?"

"He is not the first, you know. Plenty of people here thought it would be better for them on this side and not that side...I wonder why they thought that. Surely it doesn't matter...or does it?" He paused. "The notes I took, however, say that this man was driven out by them instead of leaving willingly. Something about having a regular girlfriend and them being afraid for their genes. All very interesting,"

"What was his address?" Hajime asked, taking the pencil off the keyboard and instead preparing to write, doing so when Shinguji told him. "I have one last question. Just another one,"

"Hmmmm?"

"Are you also familiar with the name Fujisaki Chihiro?"

"Oh, they are on my Red List!" He gasped instantly.

"What's that?" Hajime asked. "Actually, better question. Who gave you that name?"

"Who decides the names of us all? Who decides who we are meant to be?" Shinguji responded, making Hajime roll his eyes.

"Never mind. I have pretty much everything I need to know anyway," He hung up on Shinguji, quickly dialing another number. What was the Red List? Red always meant bad, danger.

Death.

You never wrote in red.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Hajime," Celestia tittered when he called her again.

"Celestia-san, who's working at Security right now?" He asked urgently.

"Hm? Why, that would be Monsieur Fuyuhiko." She gasped.

"Get him right now for me, and don't tell him I called you,"

"Why, certainly," She hung up.

A few seconds later, however, the phone line changed again.

"Yeah?" Fuyuhiko asked immediately. Despite the tone and backstory, Hajime knew Fuyuhiko was secretly a good man; his time spent hanging around the yakuza was more than enough to prove him of that.

"I'll make it quick. There's a man I need you to get. Bring him alive, even if you lose men. I don't care, just get him here alive. Gokuhara Gonta is the name. I'm sure he's at home right now. Bring him to me," He told Fuyuhiko the address and made him repeat it back.

"How important is this?"

"Very important. Trust me, you're going to make someone very happy if you do this right," Hajime promised.

An hour later, Fuyuhiko called back and reported it seemed as though Gonta had left.

"But I'm not worried about shit. The guy's got a simple mind and can't even drive. We'll have him in no time, I guarantee," He boasted, and Hajime just nodded and hung up. He suddenly felt a great chill of disquieting fear.

Something felt off. The third spy had been there all along, and Junko hadn't known. She literally just hadn't known. Was there something wrong with her? Was her power weakening..?

No, Hajime couldn't afford such thoughts then. If it wasn't for her, he would've starved to death months ago in prison. He literally owed his very life to her.

"U-Umm...she says she wants you," Mikan relayed nervously when Hajime left his desk to check on the other phones. He nodded and turned around, heading for the elevator instead.

Junko knew everything except for the third spy. How?

Junko always knew everything.

* * *

"Come in, Hajime-kun!" Junko greeted cheerfully, which Hajime had no idea to take if that meant she was upset or genuinely happy. He walked in anyway, offering her a bow and assessing the surroundings. The room was freezing cold from an AC being turned on high, and Junko was bouncing around, wearing a white turtleneck crop with a miniskirt made from red graham, a side ponytail tied with a red scrunchie and a Kuma-chan appliqué on her kneesocks. "I know you two already met, but it was just a brief exchange of your names! Barely an introduction at all! I'd like for you to meet the new and improved big sister of mine, Ikusaba Mukuro-chan!" She cheered.

Mukuro was sitting on one of the blue couches in the room, slowly pulling a brush of mascara out of its tube, making it suck loudly before she put it back in, then pulled it back out, then kept repeating the motion. Hajime stepped closer to her and found her dressed in a bright pastel pink pinafore and white sailor-style dress that made her resemble a cushion, right up to the giant pink bow in her hair. Actually, with her glassy and dead eyes, she'd have a better comparison with a doll.

"You've been a terrible husband as of late, you know. Neglecting your poor, dear wife, is it really any surprise she ended up like this? I know you've been busy though...I guess that means this marriage is doomed," Junko sighed dramatically.

"Why is she dressed like that?" Hajime asked instead, feeling eerie.

"I thought a makeover session would help improve the spirits of my older sister! Isn't she positively glowing now?!" Junko grinned happily and placed her hands on Mukuro's shoulders. "I thought you'd prefer her this way too. She's perfect; wears whatever you want, always listens and never complains! And watch this!" She yanked the tube out of Mukuro's hands; they were left frozen in that position. "Big Sister, start touching yourself! I think Hajime-kun would enjoy watching that!"

Mukuro slowly placed her hands on her breasts and started to squeeze them tightly robotically. She squished one with one hand while the other moved towards her crotch and disappeared up her skirt where she squirmed around.

Hajime just watched in blank horror.

"I had Mikan-chan do a test on her shortly after we arrived because I wanted to be extra sure, and I was right! She's got a bun in the oven, as they like to say! Congratulations, Hajime-kun! You're going to be a father, and I'm going to be an aunt!" She squealed.

"Speaking of her, she told me you had something to say to me?" Hajime treaded carefully.

"Oh yeah. I just wanted a status update on things. We can talk around Big Sister, she doesn't care. Like one of those baby dolls you whisper your secrets to," She took a seat at her bar and crossed her leg one over the other. "First, the airport..."

And so for the next hour Hajime filled Junko in on how things down at the landing strip were doing, and eventually she started to giggle.

"You say two pilots are all ready already? Haha...I want at least one more. Then I'm going to make them fly right over Hope's Peak and destroy them! I'll bomb them harder than they were in the Second World War! That'll teach them to send spies!" She laughed loudly, nearly drooling. "That'll teach them!"

"Speaking of which, we know who the third spy is," Hajime started, making Junko pause briefly before snickering.

"No you don't. You don't really,"

"I do though,"

Junko stopped laughing and stared at him carefully. Even Mukuro briefly flicked her eyes over to them before looking away. The air felt still.

"If my information is correct, he's the friend of someone named Fujisaki Chihiro-san,"

Junko had pounced on Hajime then, throwing him to the floor and standing on his chest harshly. She laughed.

"If you already knew, then why the everloving fuck did we spend an hour talking about some stupid fucking airplanes?!" She seethed. "I should throw you out that fucking window!" She stepped hard on his chest in her socks, making him cough.

"You never let me see your Red List! If I had seen it, I could've had him by last night!" Hajime shot back.

Junko paused and picked Hajime up before hurling him into another wall, making him groan in pain as he saw stars. Junko cried out and knocked over a shelf of pale purple knickknacks; they were all glass so they shattered in a loud symphony. Mukuro stared at her in wide-eyed terror. She cried and screamed, kicking the larger pieces around with her feet. Strands of hair fell loose from her ponytail.

At last, she breathed heavily and glanced at Hajime, gasping. She ran a hand through her hair. "Want something to drink? I know you're underaged, but a drink could help you calm down," She slowly walked over to her bar.

_Moodswing,_ Hajime realized, and took a seat. "Anything is fine,"

She gave him some vodka and orange juice and after drinking the mix he had to admit he felt a bit better.

"Yes. I have a Red List with nine names on it...though it's just five now. Their whole council as well as the young girl. But Fujisaki is a dead man, I'm totes sure of that. Deader than dead. Couldn't get anymore dead than he is right now! He used to be on that list though,"

Hajime quickly told Junko the story, starting with Hiyoko Saionji and ending with Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. Junko just nodded as she listened along.

"So, you're like, suggesting he's a retard?" She asked cutely. "Fantastic! That explains why I was unable to sense his presence!" She raced over to the phone in her room and pulled it off, twirling the cord around in her fingers. She told Fuyuhiko she wanted as many people as he could find to get into helicopters and search for him, and to give hourly reports. After she hung up, she snickered.

"We'll still be able to get him, oh yes! I just wish we could send his head back as a present for his dear friend Chihiro-kun. But he's dead now, isn't he, Big Sister?" She put her hands on her hips and looked over at Mukuro, who was staring ahead blankly.

"It's going to be dark in just a few hours though. Helicopters won't be of much use," Hajime reminded her carefully.

"And? They can spend all day searching tomorrow! He couldn't be far," She scoffed.

"I have one other thing. About...Komaeda-san," He hesitated a bit.

"Yes, our beloved Servant. Has he found anything super interesting yet on one of those expeditions he likes to do?" She clasped her hands together eagerly, the light catching her pink heart studs.

"I don't know where he is right now," He relayed what Iruma had told him the other day, making her nod.

"I see. Well then. When he returns, I'll just have him killed!" She decided happily. "Put him down just like a dog! But painlessly. It's a bit of a shame, honestly. I was hoping he'd last longer...oh well!" She bounced up and down. "Even a queen makes mistakes when choosing her advisors!"

Junko then walked over to Mukuro and poked her cheek, earning no response. She poked again, then yanked on her hair, which made Mukuro move away slightly. She pulled out a tube of lipstick and started to rub the dark red on Mukuro's lips; she only barely puckered. Junko grinned to herself. "The helicopters have the moon to see by tonight. That retarded fool is probably biking around in broad daylight, thinking those silly spirits of his blind child-queen will protect him. But she's dead, isn't she? And so are her beliefs," She laughed and poked Mukuro's cheek again. "You are positively glowing! I can't wait to be an aunty!" Mukuro just shuddered.

"I'm going to be taking my leave now," Hajime bowed awkwardly as Junko just waved him away.

"Goodbye," She was in the middle of applying pink eyeshadow onto Mukuro, who sat there motionless and blank.

He swallowed and went back to his own desk, trying to avoid thinking about Junko. He had one little nagging thought in the back of his mind though, and that was:

_Junko is acting stranger than she ever has been. Things are almost over for her, and I think she realizes it too._

Hajime sent a call out to check-in with the pilots, soon receiving an earful of swears.

"Fuckin' Servant! He rigged a ton of helicopters to blow! All of our pilots are dead as doornails now!" Iruma griped.

"Well, check everything then! See if you can unrig the explosives before you fly them," Hajime shouted back.

"What's the fucking point?" Iruma scoffed.

"What's the fucking point?! What will happen if she learns-"

"So? Everyone who could fly a plane are dead. Only Kazuichi and I are left, and we couldn't tell a cockpit from a real cock. We don't need those jets and helicopters anymore," Her voice sounded remorseful at the end before she hung up, and Hajime just let the phone hang down from the cord uselessly, a look of shock on his face.


	28. Gonta 1: Traveling by the Moon

**Gonta 1: Traveling by the Moon**

**######**

**Arita; September 16th, 1994**

* * *

Gonta woke up around ten that evening, stretching and taking a drink from his canteen. The moon shone down on him brightly and he smiled a bit. Even though the view was pleasant, he knew he had to hurry and get moving again, for they had discovered him and were after him.

He knew that because he had a dream last night and Chihiro had told him. Dreams were awfully funny things at times, weren't they? Chihiro couldn't talk at all because he was deaf-mute, yes he was! That's why he wrote down everything and Gonta couldn't read it. In this dream, though, Chihiro had been dressed like one of those farmer-types Gonta saw on TV sometimes; worn jeans and rugged boots and a purple checkered shirt with that gold chain he got when they first met. And he had been talking.

Chihiro had said: "If I were ya, I'd be hittin' that road a lot faster now. They know 'bout ya, but that ain't your fault. You did everything right. It's just a stroke of bad luck, all it is. You gotta keep movin' north, but stay off the road. Be careful, alright?"

Gonta had nodded in understanding, but also asked how he was supposed to keep track of the location so he didn't accidentally wander around in circles all night.

"Over there," Chihiro pointed straight ahead. "There's a bridge. You'll know it when ya see it. Big and stuff. Once ya see it..." His voice had trailed off then and he played with his necklace.

Gonta quickly got back onto his bicycle and pedaled off, quickly heading in the direction of the bridge. Even by four that morning when it was nearing time to rest, the bridge still seemed several miles off in the distance. What did he do when he finally reached it tomorrow?

He shook his head and prepared himself for sleep. Chihiro would be able to tell him. Sweet, reliable Chihiro. He always knew everything and would help him out again.

Gonta slept curled up.

* * *

Junko stood out on her balcony, wearing a dark red ensemble that featured fishnets, torn jeans, and a see-through blouse to expose her bra. She anxiously tapped her long nails against the railing of her balcony. The breeze blew nicely against her recently-curled hair. There was a lot of wide open space on the island now, perfect for someone to get lost in. That didn't bother her though.

She had a strong feeling, desire, to catch Gonta and make him pay. Why though? She was the strongest person in Japan, never mind the world. Even if he managed to get back to his community, all he would tell them would just sink them further and further into despair. Tales about how strong and powerful she was, how her people obeyed her every whim...!

So why was she so keen on having Gonta captured?

_Maybe because you clearly deserve it. You get everything you deserve._

Then there was the issue of Hajime. He was buddy-buddy with practically everyone in the city, and that was no good. He was starting to know things, learn about things he shouldn't, like the Red List. She should boil Shinguji alive for that...!

_If I had just known about it-_

"Shut up!" She screamed, hurling her glass down below. "Shut up!"

But why_ hadn't_ she told him? He was her right-hand man, she could always trust him, right? Whatever decision she came up with sounded good at the time, it must've, otherwise she wouldn't have done it. Yet she couldn't remember what it actually was.

She slammed her hands down on the railing. Makeup. Nail polish. New shoes. Shopping spree! Those things always helped cheer her up when she was upset. Soon she'd be thinking clearly again.

"They're coming for you,"

Junko whirled around at the sudden sound of a voice, finding Mukuro standing there in a virginal white puffy gown with long lacy sleeves and a high neck. A matching bow was tied in her hair and she wore blue and white makeup to wash her face out. She looked like a ghost, especially as she stepped delicately on her cream stockinged feet.

"They're coming for you, they are. The spirits told me so. Big Brother Makoto Naegi, Big Brother Leon Kuwata, Big Brother Kaito Momota, Big Brother Yasuhiro Hagakure. They're coming, and they'll gut you like a piece of sashimi," She hugged herself and shivered.

"They ain't here though, are they? No! They're still at Hope's Peak, cowering and praying over the spirit of their dead blind cunt," Junko snapped. Her older sister's voice had taken on a familiar tone she decided she hated.

"No. They're halfway here...and then they'll kill you...I think. They'll kill you and cut your head off like a paper flower," She stared straight ahead. "They'll be here soon."

"Go back downstairs, Big Sister!" Junko ordered.

"Yes, I will. With you. With everyone," She stepped closer and smiled a cold smile, so different from the lust-filled ones she usually had around her. "You'll go down too, down with me. Born together, die together."

"If you don't stop-!"

"Let's all go down together, let's all go down together, oh my, we'll all go down together!~" She sung in a horribly off-key way, spinning around and smiling. Her dress twirled around her waist.

"They're in Hope's Peak, you ugly, stupid wench!" Junko cried.

"Almost here."

"Get back downstairs! I'll call your husband to personally carry you there if you don't stop!"

"Everything you've made is falling apart. Makes sense. Despair needs to be fueled, while hope always blossoms. Hope will always win out over despair in the end, always. It was obvious from the start. You let a simple-minded boy; a child really, escape from your supposed great clutches. Your weapons expert has gone crazy and people are worried whatever he brings back from the military bases will be for them and not those in the east. People are leaving, Junko-chan, did you know that?" She tilted her head. "They're leaving because they don't believe in despair anymore,"

"No they're not. You're just lying," Junko's voice was barely above a whisper. "I'd know it if it was true,"

"They leave at night. They abandon their posts. They laugh at you because you cannot see them all of the time. They think hope will win in this fight, and you'll lose. And the few that do remain here won't help you during your inevitable fall-"

"You are a filthy fucking liar!" Junko suddenly screamed, feeling something in her snap. She charged at Mukuro and grabbed her wrists, pinning her arms hard down by her sides. She leaned over the railing slightly and pushed Mukuro down, giving her a hard shove. She saw the relieved smile and the life return back to her eyes as she fell; everything happening slowly. Triumph appeared on her face then, and Junko suddenly realized she had been tricked into doing it, Mukuro intentionally angered her so that she'd be freed from everything-

And she was still carrying her niece.

Horrified at what she had done, Junko leaned forward and tried to grab at Mukuro's skirt hem, only to rip the thin fabric off and stared at it in her hand. Like a dreamy cloud; almost, the stuff one walks on in dreams. All she could do was stand there with her mouth open, leaning forward as she watched Mukuro silently plummeting down to the ground. She didn't scream. Ironically, she almost looked like a bird there, spreading out her white wings and taking flight in the sky.

Then she heard the hard thud her body made on the pavement below and started to scream herself.

_It doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore!_

A group of people all came running to the body to try and figure out what happened, making Junko laugh and cry at the same time. They were like stupid little ants, braindead and running around, while she stood above them all; a giant, their queen.

She continued to laugh.

_I killed my sister. I killed my sister. I killed my sister._

And laugh and laugh and laugh.

* * *

Gonta woke up that night around eight, feeling good again. It was still too bright out to move, so he waited in the shade. Chihiro had appeared in his dream again, riding bikes with him in the countryside and laughing and talking. It felt good to talk to Chihiro.

He watched the stars beginning to rise and thought about how much he missed vanilla ice cream. Maybe there'd be some for him at Hope's Peak, cold and creamy and fresh, hard enough to break a spoon in. He could gorge himself on all that once he returned, and bask in the love of his friends. Because that's what was missing in New Nagasaki, he realized then. Everyone there was nice enough, but they didn't love each other. They were all too afraid to love. And nothing could grow right in the dark.

"Gonta loves everyone, he does!" He whispered to himself. "Chihiro-kun and Sayaka-san and Makoto-san and Kaede-san and Seiko-san. Gonta also loves Leon-san and Kaito-kun and Yasuhiro-san. And Himiko-chan too!" It was strange how easily their names all came to him then when he oftentimes had trouble remembering even Makoto's or Kaito's whenever they came to visit. His thoughts then turned to the bugs he knew liked to stay in his terrariums, lured by food and allowed to come and go freely. Was someone there still taking care of them? He felt as though when he returned, he'd still enjoy watching bugs, but somehow wanting to keep them forever didn't sound so appealing anymore.

Once it was fully dark, Gonta got back onto his bicycle once more and silently set off, glancing behind him to see a group of moving lights in the distance. They were looking for him now, he definitely knew that. He would be safe though.

He pedaled all through the night, clearing close to forty miles after it was time to rest again. He was finally past the bridge and was about to arrive at another island. He made a pillow for himself using his jacket.

In his dream, him and Chihiro were walking along a peaceful beach, Chihiro dressed in a sheer white sundress and matching hat. He gasped and ran ahead, picking up a large purple shell.

"Gonta knows about those! You can hear ocean with one!" Gonta announced happily, making Chihiro laugh. He did indeed put it up to his ear.

"I can hear it! I can hear the ocean! Or is it just 'cuz I'm standin' close by it?" He laughed again. The warm breeze ruffled his dress and hair. The necklace was still being worn.

"Gonta love Chihiro-kun's company! Gonta can't wait to go back home and see him again!" He grinned; though he frowned in the real world.

Chihiro froze. The waves washed their footprints away. Hard tears formed in his eyes, and he turned away from Gonta without another word.

* * *

It was almost ironic, in a way. Here he was, wandering the southern part of the island, soaked from the heavy rains and relentless humidity. His clothes weren't helping; dressing in black leather with that silver chain slowly swinging at his neck from side to side, his nails painted bright red and sharply manicured in a weird imitation of Junko's own; no mitten to cover it anymore. He threw away the necklace though, it was made for someone far more worthy than him. He was just lowly trash by that point.

He found friends, at long last, after everything he had to endure; Hajime and Souda and even Teruteru. He was forced to leave them all behind, and why? Because everything had been royally messed-up.

Nagito couldn't even really recall what had happened during his last visit to the landing strip. Maybe that disease of his was finally taking toll on his brain and eating it alive. He just remembered everyone being proud and amazed as they examined through his latest findings, and even he was starting to feel proud over them as well. Someone started to mock him though, and laugh, and he felt his features darken and he dashed off, wiring the helicopters and trucks nearby with dynamite on their insides. They'd explode the moment they sense motion; hooked-up to a motion detector. One of his old friends back at the special school taught him about that one.

The first explosion was beautiful in its own way, and he knew the helicopters would be too if they ever got the chance to fly them. They deserved it too, for not taking advantage of the talents and hope given to them.

After the high of the explosion died down, though, Nagito cringed inwardly.

What was he doing?! Destroying the Empress' property like that, ruining her chances of crushing despair for good, what was he doing? And what for? And why? And what if the Empress herself learned of it?

So he fled and drove his Go-Kart out into the wilderness, seeing green lands stretch out as far as the eye could see. He waited; originally Nagito had just planned to light himself on fire and kill himself right then and there, but found himself unable to go through with it.

One day, upon awakening, one word finally dawned in his mind; redemption. Was such a thing possible? If not redemption, then atonement?

If he wished for redemption, he had to please the Empress, and to please the Empress would be to bring back something big, something huge, something far more destructive than just a few sticks of dynamite.

Japan didn't have much in the way of military or defense, but the Americans still planted military bases down everywhere and in those bases...there could be something. No atomic bombs or anything of that sort there, but that hardly mattered. There could still be some of the Despair Disease left over at Code Green, but plague was one of those funny killers that destroyed everyone in its path without a care. Junko didn't want something like that.

Being drawn to a nearby location, somehow exactly knowing what he needed, Nagito pumped the speed to his tiny little Go-Kart as fast as it could physically go, speeding down the empty roads.

After another day, he reached his location and got out.

Normally the place would be guarded at least lightly, perhaps with a fence around it. This one, though, had no fence, and all of the possible guards had died months ago. Nagito stepped closer, still feeling a sense of hesitance.

He stepped inside and took a look around, his eyes widening in shock and delight when he saw the parking area.

Nestled by the aide of an armored barracks were several green tanks, all heavily-armed.

"Perfect," Nagito whispered to himself, running over to one. "This must be...it.." He gasped a bit and started coughing heavily, falling to his knees. He grabbed at his throat before the sensation finally passed and he was left panting.

He had to bring the tank back soon, before his disease finally killed him.

* * *

Hajime was standing in his room, back to the door, wearing a black mourning suit as he poured lemon juice into a glass full of orange juice. He had hair long enough to tie back back into a ponytail; which he had at that moment, and took a sip of his homemade drink. He glanced over at the door upon hearing footsteps, seeing it was Fuyuhiko and a 'servant' of his named Peko Pekoyama.

"Don't knock or anything," Hajime rolled his eyes.

"Your door was open, I assumed that meant anyone could just freely walk in," Fuyuhiko snapped back, stepping in further. He was dressed like a stereotypical mobster with a black eyepatch over one eye. He only ever told Hajime that the price for losing Kizakura was his sister's life and his own eye, both claimed by Junko. "Fuck are you even doin'?"

"I got thirsty and bored and wanted to see which of these combinations tasted good," He said.

"Is she here?" Fuyuhiko asked instead, his voice steady.

"Nope, she's out again. Don't think she'll be back for a while either," He poured in some lime juice. "Besides, aren't you out trying to find Gokuhara-san?"

"I'm about to head out," Fuyuhiko finally shut the bedroom door and walked over, motioning to the red sun. "Don't know why she's so fuckin' adamant over it. No matter how hard we search, we can't find shit. He might manage to completely evade us at this rate,"

"I say let him go, I don't think he's got anything useful to say about us anyway," He offered Fuyuhiko some tea and he sipped at it. Hajime then glanced over at Peko, eyeing him sharply from the door. He always hated the dead look in her eyes; it was creepier than Mukuro's somehow. Mukuro's was of a light that burned out. Peko's was of a light never lit. Her silver hair was worn in a messy side ponytail and she wore a sloppy silver-white suit with a sword at her side and a green dragon imprinted on the back of her jacket like a mock yakuza tattoo. Ryouhei always wanted to get one of those, he suddenly remembered.

"I think she's starting to lose it." Hajime continued after a while. "First Kirigiri evades her, then Gokuhara. Then her own sister falls from the balcony. Somehow I bet that wasn't in her plan," He sipped some tea as well.

"I don't think you should speak so lightly of crap like that. Wasn't she your wife?" Fuyuhiko scolded.

"Not by choice," Hajime grumbled. "Don't even get me started on Servant. Trying to blow up half this damn place! Everything was going so perfectly for her, yet everything fell apart when that little girl died at Hope's Peak,"

Fuyuhiko glanced over at Peko again and sighed heavily. "Look, I'm gonna just come right out and say this. I'm telling you because before all this crap happened, you tried to make it with my family. I respect that," He lowered his voice to a whisper. "A few of us aren't feeling so hot about this place anymore and we're thinking about leaving. Me and Peko obviously, Nidai, Oowari, probably Koizumi too...I'm telling you this because...would you like to come with us?"

"Where are you guys going?" Hajime turned to face him entirely.

"Don't know," He shrugged. "Australia I guess, that seems far enough. Some others are thinking of heading to China, or South Korea, or Russia. But I think Australia is good enough for me,"

"I wish you luck, then. And as an old favour, I'm not going to tell her your plans," Hajime put a hand on his shoulder.

"You ain't comin'?!" He asked in surprise.

"No. I've been with her since the start. She saved me from a bad situation, and I literally owe my life to her, as much as I hate to admit that," He winced. "Still, Koizumi-san? She was one of the first...I can't believe she's actually thinking about it,"

"I did say maybe," Fuyuhiko started to turn and head towards the door. "Well, let me know if ya ever change your mind. You could be my second-in-command,"

Hajime nodded. "I'm sure everything will work out for the both of us,"

Peko suddenly ran over to him, her white heels clicking loudly on the tile. She bowed deeply to him and gave him a pleased expression, the first emotion he had ever seen on her face.

"Thank you. Thank you for doing this for us," She said before she followed Fuyuhiko out.

Somehow, Hajime felt a pleasant smile come to his face afterwards.

* * *

Gonta made his camp early in the morning on the border of where Kyushu turns into Honshu. That particular morning was chilly enough for him to see his breath and shiver slightly. Despite that, though, he felt strangely energized, and thought about the previous night when he had to try and sneak through another camp.

Three men were all sitting around a campfire, all holding guns. The campfire was a small sputter by then, but it was still light enough to easily see by. He somehow knew immediately they were looking for him, why else would people just randomly camp out in the middle of nowhere with weapons?

Trying to sneak past them, Gonta kept his steps light and quick, suddenly thankful the moon was hidden behind the clouds. He was a few feet behind the camp and knew if the moon came out his cover would be blown. He continued to tiptoe around, accidentally skidding on some looser grass and falling down the hill, taking some rocks with him. He rolled down and hit the bottom hard.

"What was that?" One of the men asked, and the other two quickly got their guns at the ready, glancing around. Gonta froze, halfway through getting up. He silently pleaded with the moon to remain covered, as he hadn't fallen that far and would still be spotted. He closed his eyes as he felt warm urine dripping down his pants and dribbling into the grass.

"I think it was just some kind of animal. A fox or something. They've been running around this place loose, like crazy," The second man grumbled, setting his gun down.

"I think maybe we should still investigate," The third said nervously, blinking.

"It's probably gone by now," The first shrugged, and that was the end of that. Gonta managed to stand up slowly and continued to quietly sneak around, hoping they wouldn't change their minds. He hadn't fallen anywhere offtrack, so there was that at least. Soon their campfire was just a tiny speck in the distance before completely vanishing in the next hour, and Gonta allowed himself to breath a sigh of relief.

He wasn't entirely out of danger yet, even he knew that, yet it didn't feel as urgent as it had prior. Once the sun had started to come up, he began making camp.

"Starting to get cold out here, even for Gonta...want some blankets.." He said to himself before sleep easily came and completely overtook him like it always did.

He dreamed of Chihiro again; wearing that fancy kimono he liked to wear to official town meetings. Chihiro was twirling around in a park, not taking notice of him.

"Chhiro-kun?" He tried calling out, making Chihiro look over at him and laugh.

"You've been doin' a real bang-up job, kid. Doin' everything I've said,"

"Of course Gonta help you! Gonta love helping others!" Gonta explained, making him laugh again. The dream started to fade away, the colours overly-bright.

"There's one last thing ya gotta do. I can't tell ya yet, but it's real important," Chihiro whispered before walking off, standing next to a swingset.

By the swingset was a woman with long brown hair and a nice red kimono, pushing a little girl with pierced ears. The little girl cheered happily while the woman giggled, Chihiro looking on the scene proudly.

Gonta stood there for a moment, wondering why the scene felt strange, before he caught sight of the little girl's hazel eyes.

He woke up in the evening with a great sense of longing he wasn't sure he fully understood.

That next night, Chihiro didn't come to his dreams at all.

* * *

Having isolated herself in the wilderness on the evening of the seventeenth, Junko began to think and think. Take in her surroundings. She knew every time she used her super amazing wonderful analytical physic power, it took a lot out of her, but she found she didn't particularly care that night. Dressed in a simple white and green peasant gown with a low-cut blouse and charm necklace, she began to think as she closed her eyes.

Soon, she felt as though the very ground she sat on had changed from a marshy grassland to a simple asphalt road. She shivered despite herself from the sudden chill. She leaned her head forward slightly and 'saw' them, four figures asleep next to a burnt-out campfire. So they were indeed coming. For once, her dumb bitch of an older sister told her truth. They even had a dog with them, how adorable.

Having seen everything she needed to see, she opened her eyes and held her head unsteadily as a sudden wave of vertigo washed over her. Junko fell down on the ground, gasping. She then rolled over onto her back.

She figured it was the little girl who told them to come. How pathetic, they were like her slaves. If she was laying there dying in her bed and she told them to kill themselves, would they still do it? She bet they would.

She laughed as she sat up. What fools they were, what glorious fools! Marching right into the center of her land, probably thinking they could kill her! All in the name of hope!

All she had to do was just chop their heads off and hang them up on spikes right in front of her hotel. She'd gather her whole group of followers up and make them look upon those four heads, making sure they knew that was what happened when one threw their life and sense away to chase after something as trivial as hope. She'd even take pictures and send them out.

No, wait, _five_ heads. She'd stick the dog's head up there too.

Junko started to laugh for the first time since Mukuro goaded her into pushing her off the balcony.

In the morning, she called up all of the patrol teams and informed them to double up their security. Instead of looking for a man going east, they were instead looking for four men and a dog going west. If they were found, they were to be taken alive at all costs. Absolutely all costs.

Junko smiled to herself. She needed to get a new dress made for the occasion.


	29. Makoto 10: Meditative Journey

**Makoto 10: Meditative Journey**

**####**

**Undisclosed Location; September 18th, 1994**

* * *

"You know, I'm starting to think I truly understand the deep meaning of the phrase 'this sucks'," Yasuhiro commented, staring down at a can of sausages.

"Come on, this is nothing! You should've seen some of the stuff they try to feed astronauts!" Kaito laughed.

The four were all sitting around the campfire that Leon had rekindled an hour earlier, wearing tight gloves and heavy coats in preparation for the colder weather. Even that morning was slightly chilly, and Blavatsky was napping extremely close to the fire. They were all on their second cups of coffee.

"Sometimes I like to wonder about everything I've done in my life to get me to this point. To be used as a pawn to grant the wishes of a young disabled girl. Man, I must've made some strange choices," Yasuhiro finally sighed, standing up and beginning to collect everyone's garbage.

"I think he's really something. I asked him why he wants to bury all of our trash instead of just leaving it on the side of the road. Plenty of other people would. He said we don't need to start up that old habit," Leon took out a piece of paper and a counter that tracked how many kilometers they were traveling by. The paper showed how much they had walked altogether.

"We're not even halfway there yet," Makoto noticed as they heard Yasuhiro loudly struggling to dig in the stiff ground from somewhere behind them.

"Yeah, but what's the rush? That chick is just gonna kill us when we finally make it over there," Leon shrugged.

"I doubt that," Kaito shook his head. "I somehow doubt Miss Chiaki would've made such a big deal about us going if we were just going to be slaughtered carelessly like that. There has to be more than that,"

Everyone was quiet after that as they continued to do their little rituals of the day. Yasuhiro continued to bury their trash while Blavatsky watched, Leon set the current mileage to zero on his counter before he stood up and walked a few ways away to relieve his bladder, and Makoto and Kaito put the fire out. They had been twelve days on the road already and their rituals were practically set in stone.

In the mornings, everything was clear and obvious. Even Sayaka was just a distant memory to him, like a picture kept in a locket or pocket. At night though, she was far closer to him, close enough to make him realize how much he misses her and how much he wants to spend time with her again, to touch her again. Sometimes he almost wishes he could muster up the courage to tell the others that they're on a foolish mission and they should just find some motorcycles somewhere and drive back the way they came.

That was just at night though. In the morning hours, everything about their journey made sense and was crystal-clear. He glanced over at Leon and wondered if he ever had similar thoughts about Kaede. Dreaming of her at night and just wishing he could see her again. He then looked over at Kaito and wondered if he thought the same about Maki. Yasuhiro was the one he felt the most curiosity and sadness for, as he was never really close to anyone in the community prior. He lived with Kyoko, sure, but that seemed to be more of a circumstance based on necessity.

Once everything there was taken care of, the four men gathered themselves up and continued on their journey.

* * *

Leon walked slightly ahead of the group as a cold rain began to fall, his hands in his pockets. His thoughts randomly turned to the corpse they came across a few days ago that he himself dubbed as 'The Wolfman' as when they found him, he was surrounded by the corpses of several wolves, his own corpse half-out of a vehicle. He still wore a vintage leather jacket. Whoever he was before death, he was clearly heading out west.

He didn't want to admit it, ever, but the thought of who he was and who those wolves belonged to sent shivers down his spine.

* * *

They sat down for dinner that night, just a simple one of boiled water and anything they found while foraging. It was part of Miss Chiaki's rules, after all.

"The next few stretches are going to be pretty harsh," Kaito announced. "I checked on an atlas before we set off, back in Hope's Peak obviously. Practically nothing in the way of civilization. Just a few tiny farmhouses and temples scattered about,"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out! Those houses could have canned goods for us!" Makoto reassured him.

Kaito and Leon went to bed after that, while Makoto and Yasuhiro stayed awake for a bit longer.

"You miss Maizono-chi, don't you?" Yasuhiro asked suddenly. "I can tell by your vibes!"

"Yeah...I miss her a lot. At night I keep worrying about her baby and if it's going to be alright," Makoto sighed a bit.

"Sound like typical thoughts to be having at night," He nodded.

"How about you? Do you think about Kirigiri-san a lot? Do you miss her? You two lived together, so surely you had some sort of connection?"

"Yeah, we had some pretty good debates. I wouldn't say I miss her though. Not because I'm heartless or anything, but in my life I've learned it's best to let certain things go. I think she would agree with me," Yasuhiro's voice sounded far away at that moment, and Makoto had the sudden feeling that he knew something he didn't, but just left that as it was.

"So, Hifumi-san is dead," Makoto said at last.

"Yes,"

"It just feels like...such a waste in a way. A waste of Asahina-san and Fujisaki-san...and a waste of himself too,"

They had come across the remains of Hifumi just that afternoon, just a day after they had found the Wolfman. He still had the remnants of a crashed motorcycle beside him, and even though his body had been picked fairly clean and withered away, the gun was still locked in his mouth. They hadn't buried him, but Makoto still gently removed the gun from his mouth and tossed it aside as a show of respect before thinking a brief and silent prayer over it.

It secretly disturbed him how easily Junko had just thrown Hifumi aside after she so easily roped him into doing her schemes for her. It made him feel that perhaps the crusade they were on in the name of hope was a fruitless one and that Hifumi's shattered leg would be the one thing to continuously haunt him like the Wolfman haunted Leon. Even though he knew they had to keep going, he still had those thoughts. He discovered very quickly that he wanted to pay Junko back for everything she had done to Hifumi as well as Chihiro and Aoi, as she was the one who had utterly wasted their lives.

"I'm going to bed," Yasuhiro announced, and Makoto waved at him as he pulled his jacket closer to him to ward off a sudden chill. Summer was definitely over, and he felt saddened as he thought he might never see another one again. When this summer began, he was just a nobody from a tiny community in Yokohama who had just graduated from high school. He planned to go to a random university just because it was expected of him and become a business man just like his father. He liked to listen to his family talk about their day over the dinner table and the stress they had all been experiencing. He realized they hadn't truly known hard times until then.

Makoto crawled into his sleeping bag and fell asleep then, squirming around slightly as he thought of red-hot eyes boring into him with their analytical stare.

_I'm not afraid of you..I have the spirits to protect me...I have hope on my side...I will not be afraid because there is nothing to fear from what I can understand,_ He thought to himself as he slept, and finally the eyes vanished and left him at peace.

* * *

The next evening, they were approaching the last big town on their map, and then it'd be completely in their hands whether they were truly being guided by the spirits or not.

"I'm more worried about water though. You ever been on a trip before? People usually store all kinds of edible junk in their cars," Leon ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe we'll be granted literal showers of food for our good karma," Yasuhiro suggested.

Leon just looked up at the clear blue sky. "I sometimes wonder if at the end of it all if maybe she really was crazy,"

"Maybe she was. All sorts of different religions say that chosen prophets tend to be so only on their deathbeds or when they've gone insane. Even many people here believe that such thinking means you've been touched negatively by the spirits. Someone healthy might twist the message for their own benefit and therefore be a very terrible prophet, but when you're dying, that's that," Yasuhiro said. "And honestly I think what we're doing now makes sense in that regard,"

"What we're doing is pretty crazy," Leon sighed.

"What about all of those Buddhist monks who forcefully isolate themselves out in the wilderness? They wander around all the time, eat only what they can find while foraging, and meditate constantly. They believe when it's their time, they'll receive the visions they're looking for, and they do come eventually, usually from starvation or intoxication,"

"Is that why Miss Chiaki sent us out here? To have visions?" Kaito questioned.

"Maybe by purging ourselves of worldly desires and possessions so we can be more focused in trying to figure out our true goal, because then we'll have no more distractions in our quest to be more clear of heart and mind,"

"I don't follow any of that," Leon sighed.

"Then I'll explain it more simply. Let's say we have an intelligent guy from a typical pre-pandemic life. He likes to watch TV, but his is broken. So what does he do instead?" Yasuhiro asked.

"Read some books," Kaito suggested.

"Hang out with friends?" Makoto offered.

"Listen to the radio," Leon grinned.

"Sure, he'd do all of those things. But he'd keep thinking about the TV all of the while and how he'd like to catch up on his favourite shows, only to walk in and see the empty area and feel great sadness for it. A part of his life is missing,"

"Once our TV broke for two weeks and I never thought I'd be the same during it," Kaito admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Now get rid of his books, his friends, and his radio. Get rid of any supplements he can't get himself along the way. Take away his physical desires and possessions and wants. Eventually he would cease to even want at all because he would realize everything he's ever wanted he's already had all along; a strong spiritual relationship with himself and the universe as a whole," Yasuhiro continued.

"But what's the point in all that? Life will always be filled with temptations," Leon said.

"Dude, why do you think all of those monks isolated themselves up in the mountains in tiny cabins? It was to focus on meditation and self-reflection! To discover what you need to still do to better yourself as a person!"

"That definitely sounds like Miss Chiaki," Kaito said.

"I got another one for you. Think of yourself as being like a battery. Your brain is already kinda like one already anyway, you know? Everything that you do uses up the charge in your battery, like watching TV, eating dinner, reading books, hanging out with friends. Our pre-pandemic lives were very much like having a car hooked up with all of the fancy accessories. The more accessories you have though, the harder it is to charge the battery,"

The three were listening closely with rapt attention.

"I think that's exactly what's happening to us now. We got rid of all our extra accessories, so now we can charge faster and easier and better!" Yasuhiro finished proudly.

"Don't car batteries have a tendency to explode if you let them charge for too long though? I read that somewhere," Kaito reminded him.

"I know that, man! And I know there's probably plenty of monks and prophets and whoever else who likely got their brains fried out by the visions they were receiving! I think we'll somehow be okay though. I think our own batteries have the capacity to be charged for infinity!" The four were silent for a time after that, wanting to mull it all over.

"So, have we changed?" Makoto asked shyly after a while.

"I think so. I've lost a lot of my muscle mass already. Just thinking about doing my old weight set at the gym...I don't think I could even pick them up anymore," Kaito mused.

"I think it's a state of mind, like when you do coke or smoke a cigarette. The high is there, but normal thinking feels far off. But now, I feel high, but clear-headed too. I don't know, maybe the hunger is just gettin' to me," Leon explained. "All I know is that I feel strangely good,"

"It's the hunger, definitely, but I think it's something else too. I'm hungry a lot, but I mostly feel great," Kaito said.

"I never thought I'd feel so good in my life...!" Makoto marveled.

"It's because we're starting to let go of our worldly desires. Once you do, you'll feel much closer to the world spiritually and not feel as weighed-down by everything," Yasuhiro speculated.

"You have an interesting way of putting things," Makoto smiled.

Blavatsky came out of the bushes and happily ran up to the group, getting patted by Leon.

"Didn't ya know our brains are just like batteries with lifetime warranties?"

Blavatsky just barked and wagged his tail to show he was on Leon's side.

* * *

The next day, they had drunk the last of their instant coffee, and true to their thoughts, had traveled for an entire day without coming across anything of substance. It was their first time without food since leaving Hope's Peak. On their second day, they came across an overturned car with a family of four packed inside; a teenage daughter and her younger brother. As a result there were two boxes of chocolate Pocky, one packet of cheese crackers, and a large bag of stale potato chips all stuffed inside. The crackers and Pocky were salvageable, so they split those up five ways.

After Blavatsky had his share, he went off exploring again while Leon slowly nibbled on his own Pocky, feeling dreamy. "I always thought these things had a super doughy aftertaste when I was a kid," He commented.

"I remember when they invented the almond ones," Yasuhiro said.

"Me too," Kaito nodded. "And Leon-san's right, they _do_ have a doughy aftertaste." He sighed. "You know, I really do wish lil Chihiro-kun was here with us. I wouldn't mind sharing these a bit further,"

Makoto nodded in agreement.

After they ate, they continued on, soon coming across an overturned delivery truck. It had packaged sushi on it that amazingly hadn't gone off yet, though they could still only eat a few pieces before they felt queasy. Yasuhiro suggested their stomachs had shrunk. Makoto just thought the sushi smelled weird. Kaito said he wouldn't mind having a few more boxes of Pocky, which made them all laugh.

That night, a heavy thunderstorm blew in from the eastern sea.

* * *

They came across the washed-out ditch later that afternoon; muggy and cloudy and Makoto thought they were due for another storm with clouds like that.

The road had once been connected by a bridge, but due to heavy recent rains, the ground became too soggy and the bridge gave way, being washed down the stream. A small creek ran down the bottom of the ditch, which was about twenty feet deep with debris all spread around in it. On the other side was a half-broken road.

Since they had no rope, they all decided to slowly climb down the hill and climb back up on the other side at a steady pace. Makoto went first, slowly lowering himself down and grabbing onto the larger rocks. He tensed up when he tried to place his foot down in a groove and the side was instead mushy and sent a shower of pebbles and mud down. He gasped and slid down a few feet before he tightly grabbed a rock for dear life.

Blavatsky yipped and easily sailed down on his feet, waiting down at the bottom with an eagerly wagging tail.

"You make it look easy, huh?" Makoto chuckled and dropped himself down on the bottom.

"I'm coming next!" Yasuhiro announced, beginning his descent.

"Be careful! It's really unstable!" Makoto called up and started to walk over to the other side.

Kaito came down third, and Leon came down last, and between the two they had the easiest and fastest climb down.

"Who's going up first?" Leon asked, looking up at the other side.

"You seem awfully eager, you go," Yasuhiro suggested, and Leon nodded and started to climb up again, grunting when some of the dirt came apart under his feet and he nearly slipped. He reached the top and waved down at them.

Yasuhiro and Kaito both cleared the climb slowly but surely, and once Kaito was done, Makoto slowly started to climb up.

_This side is actually a lot easier to climb than the other side,_ He marveled to himself. There was more to hold onto and his feet were kept steadier. The soil was wetter from the weather, so he still continued to go slowly. As long as he kept his focus, he'd be fine.

He managed to reach the top as well, trying to reach out a hand before he felt something muddy give way and he started to stumble. Leon ran over and tried to grab his hand, but Makoto fell over sideways as he tried to catch his balance and tripped over his loose shoelace. He desperately tried to grab onto the side, feeling the mud coolly bury itself under his nails as he continued to fall. He just closed his eyes as he fell faster.

His knee hit something hard as he fell down, hitting his back against a large rock hard and feeling the breath get knocked out of him. His left leg fell under him at an angle and he grimaced at the snapping noise it made before he continued tumbling down the hill. Pebbles scraped at his face and hands and he tasted fresh mud in his mouth before he landed on his bad leg again, heard another snap, and felt white-hot pain coursing through his body. He screamed as he slid through the remainder of the dirt, finally coming to a stop.

Makoto breathed heavily, his clothes full of mud and his leg on fire. He supposed it was broken in two places with his knee sprained. All because he tripped. Just his luck.

Leon hurried over to him and lifted his head up out of the muck. "How bad is it?" He asked.

"I think I won't be walking for at least three months," Makoto tried to smile but could only manage a grimace. He felt incredibly nauseous as he glanced up at the sky and balled his fists up. "...I broke my goddamn leg!" He cried.

* * *

Leon and Kaito managed to make a splint for the broken leg, while Yasuhiro gave Makoto some pain medicine that turned the searing-hot pain in his leg to a dull ache and made his own mind feel quite calm. It was then he realized they were all living on borrowed time and it was likely time for nature to collect what it was due, since they all somehow managed to survive the Despair Disease.

Leon was finishing up with what he was saying, and they were all listening to him. Once he was done, Makoto just shook his head.

"No,"

"Dude, I don't think you understand the stakes here!" Yasuhiro insisted.

"Yes I do. We're not getting a car, or a rope, or going back into town. That goes against everything we were told. It's against the rules of the game," Makoto said.

"This ain't a fucking game though! This is your life on the line!" Leon cried. "You're going to die if we leave you here!"

"We all knew it was a risk if we agreed to go, and we all agreed anyway. If I don't die here, I might just die somewhere else along the line. I think it's better this way," Makoto tried to offer them a weak smile.

"Well I'm in charge now, and she said that if anything happens to you-"

"You have to keep going in the name of hope," Makoto stared at him. "This whole thing is based around the idea that little girl knew what she was talking about. Are you going to go up against that?"

"Yeah, he's right," Kaito offered.

"No, he ain't right, ya dumb planter," Leon huffed, mocking Kaito's thick Tōhoku dialect. "It wasn't anyone's will, good or bad, that he fell. It was just some loose dirt! He's our friend, and I don't want to leave people behind again!"

"We're leaving him," Yasuhiro said quietly.

"You're his friend! What kinda talk is this?!" Leon demanded, whirling around to face him.

"I am, but we all agreed to go into this despite it almost certainly meaning our deaths. We stood over her deathbed and promised that. Man, you're just gonna go back on that now?" Yasuhiro's voice was still at a whisper.

"We could just find a car somewhere and drive him around-"

"We gotta walk, and he can't," Kaito interrupted gently.

"Oh, this is great. So should we just shoot him like a horse? Put him out of his misery?" Leon carried on hysterically.

"I say we have a vote," Makoto suggested quietly from the ground. "I say you all go on,"

"Me too," Kaito nodded.

"No way. We should just stay here tonight, and then think it over more," Leon said.

"No,"

Yasuhiro handed Makoto a bottle of pain medicine. "There's enough morphine in one of these to kill a horse! Just three will do it. Only if absolutely necessary,"

Makoto swallowed nervously.

Leon stared at Makoto then and was suddenly reminded of Kanon and how she had gotten extremely sick and died. Because he left her behind. She would've recovered. But he left her behind. He had rolled her body over and found her sunken-in eyes and bloody puke trailing from her mouth like a demented doll on a hot July morning. Because he had left her behind.

"No!" He suddenly screamed and tried to rush at Makoto before being held back by Kaito. Makoto stared at him uneasily before he motioned him over. Kaito gave him an unsure look before he gently pushed Leon over to him, still looking ready to restrain him again if need be.

Leon walked over to Makoto and just looked at him. "You can't just leave someone behind just because they're injured or sick," He began.

"Everything will be fine. You know what they say, you get everything you deserve. Maybe I'll be sent a crane to bring me food. You have to keep going on to Nagasaki, but once you come back, you can come this way again. I once read a man can live for seventy days without food if he has water," Makoto began.

"You'll die from exposure long before then. The winter may not be bad, but you have thunderstorms and floods to worry about. And disease! Just because you survived the crazies doesn't mean shit for any others," Leon shook his head.

"You're going to have to keep going without me," He frowned.

"And what is Sayaka-chan going to say when she finds out we left your body out here to rot?"

"She won't say anything if you don't fix her clock. Neither will Kaede-san, or Kimura-san, or anyone,"

"What if we stay here for the night? Maybe we'll have another dream and it'll tell us what to do,"

"No." Makoto shook his head. "You have to go now. If you don't, you'll want to keep staying here until you have a dream and then it'll be too late."

"Alright," Leon walked away then, and Kaito took his place.

"You need anything?" He asked.

"Something by Dazai Osamu-san. We read one of his books in school once and ironically I really like his style. I've always wanted to read his other works," Makoto laughed.

"Sorry, I'm out of that," Kaito smiled humorlessly.

Yasuhiro took his place then and just sighed. "I feel awful about this, you know. Like putting down a horse or something,"

"It could always be way worse. I just have a broken leg, I'm not dying," Makoto said.

"Yeah." Yasuhiro walked off, and as him and Kaito began climbing up again, Makoto called Leon over one last time.

"Looks like you're the leader now!" He tried to congratulate him.

"Yeah, great," Leon responded sarcastically.

"I think her men will try to grab you as you approach the city," Makoto whispered. "Grab you and bring you to her. Then it'll happen. I don't know what it is, but it'll happen in the next few days. What we were sent here for,"

Leon nodded and turned away. "We'll come back for you. I promise we will,"

"I know you will," Makoto have him a sad smile.

Leon climbed back up the ditch to join the other three, and waved down at Makoto. He waved back to them. Then they turned and left.

They never saw Makoto Naegi again.

* * *

"Where's Blavatsky?" Kaito asked that night over the fire after a silent and sullen rest.

"I haven't seen him for the past few hours," Yasuhiro suddenly realized, getting up and calling for him. After a few tries, he sat back down slowly, thinking it felt like such a bad omen that a dog who followed him through half of the nation would suddenly disappear like that. He shivered.

"Maybe he's with Makoto-san," Leon suggested, making the other two startle and look at him. He lit a cigarette; one of his last ones.

"Yeah, maybe. Maybe the spirits sent a dog to guide him," Kaito responded. "Though a crane might've been better,"

The fire crackled loudly.

* * *

Makoto shivered a bit as he felt the eyes of the dark shadow growing closer and closer to him. Being chilled to the bone was one thing, but he'd rather not die by getting torn apart by one of Junko's wolves. He shivered more.

"Go on, come then," He commanded, looking up at a large piece of fish being dropped in front of him. "Huh?! Blavatsky?!"

The dog barked in response and happily wagged his tail, waiting to be complimented.

"Good boy, good boy!" Makoto praised in amazement. He cut part of the fish off uneasily with a sharp rock and tossed it at Blavatsky. "Stick? Wood? Fetch?" He tried next, and Blavatsky ran off and came back with a large piece of driftwood left from the thunderstorm. He gasped. "Good boy! Fetch!"

Soon Blavatsky had found enough wood to make a small fire, and Makoto managed to start said fire by rubbing two sticks together and making them ignite. He gutted the fish and cooked it on the fire, the smell of it making his mouth water. When was the last time he even smelled fish being grilled? A few months ago, easily.

Once it was cooked, Makoto cut it in half and gave part of Blavatsky while he ate the other half. He smiled at the slightly-burnt taste. Somehow it put the packaged sushi to shame.

After he ate, he grimaced a few times trying to get comfortable and looked up at the bright, indifferent stars. He took one of Yasuhiro's pills and was out like a light, while Blavatsky slept beside him and gave him heat.

And that was how on the first night after the parties broke up, Makoto slept easily with a full stomach and the trio slept uneasily on empty stomachs with strong feelings of impending, imminent doom.


	30. Leon 6: Beginning of the End

**Leon 6; Beginning of the End**

**#####**

**Undisclosed Location; Somewhere Near Nagasaki; September 25th, 1994**

* * *

The trio had walked quietly along the way for the past two days, not making much in the way of conversation. Leon rubbed at his eyes slightly, feeling constantly plagued by nightmares. The crowd yelling for Your Man Just Ain't Good for Ya, all of the mics too tall to adjust, the disapproving glare of his mother, the hopeful eyes of Kanon begging to go on tour with him. It was beginning to be too much.

"The wildlife came back so quickly," Yasuhiro marveled, watching some birds fly around above them. "Especially since it's only been a hundred days since the first outbreak,"

"Yeah, but all the dogs and pigs are gone. It wasn't enough to kill off humans, you had to take their best friends and their favourite food source too," Kaito sighed.

"The cats are left," Leon said.

"We still have Blavatsky-!"

"We _had_ Blavatsky,"

They walked in silence again for a time, soon talking about dogs and pigs and cattle. Smaller animals too. Kaito said rabbits were starting to come out of the woodwork and make their burrows near previously-populated cities again. Chihiro and Gonta had come across a family of them while traveling. He thought it'd be something if in their lifetimes, the whole entire countryside would be overrun with rabbits.

* * *

On the twenty-eighth, they finally reached the target they were looking for, and paused when they saw a large group of vehicles parked in a pile in the distance. They kept walking, taking each other's hands as they got closer.

Eight police cars were neatly parked around a barricade, and several men were standing in front of the cars, carrying guns.

"I don't think they look that different from our guys," Kaito pointed out.

"Are you Naegi-san, Kuwata-san, Hagakure-san, and Momota-san?" A heavyset muscular man asked, walking up to them. "There's only three of you, who's missing?"

"Makoto-san...Naegi-san. He broke his leg on the way here," Leon responded.

"Well, nothing for it now. I am Nidai Nekomaru, and sorry to say, but I'm under orders to put you boys under arrest," He motioned to the men behind him.

"Whose orders?" Yasuhiro asked immediately.

"You know,"

"Then say it," He took notice of the sudden flash of terror in Nekomaru's eyes. "And if you won't, then I will. Because she's no more a woman than any of us; she's a she-devil! She is Lilith, Prospina, Bast, Izanami, call her what you like. She is essentially the Devil and all of you kiss her feet,"

"Arrest them," Nekomaru ordered, and the men quickly grabbed the three in response and loaded them up onto trucks; Leon and Kaito in one and Yasuhiro in another one.

_I'm being arrested,_ Leon thought to himself and realized he found it amusing. Kaito sighed a bit next to him once the truck started moving.

"Something wrong?" Leon asked.

"No, I'm just glad to finally be off my feet for once!"

A blond man in a hat sat across from them, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "That annoying loud mouth your leader?" He asked.

"Nope, that would be me," Leon pointed to himself.

"What happened to that Naegi guy?"

"We left him after he broke his leg,"

"That's rough. Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko. Guess you could say I'm head of security and defense around here," He just looked away.

"How long will it take us to reach Nagasaki?" Leon asked.

"About five or six hours. Can't go too fast because there's still some damn stalls in the roads," Fuyuhiko shook his head.

"To think, we've been walking all of this time and we'll end up getting there in less than five hours," Kaito marveled. "Now that's something,"

"You guys are pretty fucking stupid for coming all this way like that. Don't you know it's just going to end badly?" Fuyuhiko eyed them.

"I guess we're just meant to kill Junko," Leon shrugged.

"Good luck with that. She'll not make her plans easy on you. She's got huge ones and I can tell she won't let you off easy at all. That's why she asked for your arrest. All you can do now is just comply and hope she goes easy on you. She hasn't been in the best of moods lately,"

"Why?"

But Fuyuhiko looked away.

* * *

It took them six hours in total to get to New Nagasaki, the workday finishing up when they finally arrived. Leon found himself marveling at all of the technology already set-up.

Once they were herded out of the cars, Nekomaru held out two pairs of handcuffs.

"No way! It's bad enough I have to go to jail as it is, but now you're thinking of cuffing me like some common criminal?!" Kaito shook his head in anger.

"Please, don't make this harder than it has to be," There seemed to be a hint of remorse in his eyes. "I have my orders,"

"The person who gave you those orders was the same person who murdered my friend Chihiro-kun! You seem like such a nice guy normally, why are you following someone like her?" Kaito carried on. Yasuhiro was led over to them.

"Keep them in separate cells," Fuyuhiko said. "Separate wings too,"

The three were each led away.

* * *

Nekomaru led Leon down a separate corridor. Leon spotted a sign leading to the showers and stared at it. "I wouldn't mind a shower," He mused.

"Maybe, if you cooperate. We'll just have to see," Nekomaru commented. "I still don't understand what you all were thinking. Normally I'd admire such determination, but she's just going to kill you. Whatever she wants, she gets,"

"I'm only here because I was told to by the little blind girl. Lady Nanami. You probably dreamed about her,"

Nekomaru cleared his throat and removed Leon's handcuffs, pushing him into the cell and locking the door behind him. Leon heard his footsteps echoing down the hallway for a long time.

He had a few brief stints in jail, mainly over drug possession, so it wasn't anything new to him. He ran his hand down his clothes and found one last cigarette. He slowly lit it up and took a drag. He sat down on the creaky bed and sighed. "I'm not afraid. I won't be afraid of anything," He spoke out-loud and decided he liked the way it sounded. "I'm not afraid,"

His sleep was dreamless but peaceful.

* * *

The next day, around ten in the morning, Junko and Hajime paid Yasuhiro a visit in his cell. He was sitting cross-legged in his cell, just on the floor, trying to write out a poem in English with some charcoal he found. When he heard a door open, he froze slightly and broke out into a grin, ignoring the dull ache in his bones and the chilled air. He heard the clack of heels on the floor. "I finally get to see what she looks like in the flesh," He said quietly to himself, and still smiled when the wearer of the heels came to a stop in front of his cell. "Why, you look nothing like the horrifying witch we were all picturing!"

Junko was standing directly in front of Yasuhiro, wearing a black, red, and blue gown with a high collar that resembled a dark version of Snow White's with a hoop-skirt. Her hair was up in a fancy bun-braid and one cheek was painted with a red teardrop and the other with Kuma-chan. One arm was covered in a white opera glove; the other one, black. Hajime's hair was hanging loose in his face and he wore a simple grey suit with yellow trimmings. He wore a black skull around his neck.

"I'd be honored for you to meet a dear acquaintance of ours," Junko began in a regal tone fit for a queen. "Hajime-kun, this is Hagakure Yasuhiro-kun; a former con-man and sociologist, Hope's Peak Minister of Communication, and their only surviving think tank after the truly unfortunate passing of their dear Chihiro-kun," She curtsied.

Hajime just nodded at him.

"I have decided to let you go. Isn't that right, Hajime-kun?" She looked over at him with a smile.

"Yes," Hajime wouldn't look at her.

"That's great then!" Yasuhiro smiled.

"Am I not a thoughtful ruler? A true queen always thinks of the needs of everyone who passes through her kingdom. You shall be given a small motorbike to drive back whenever you fancy," She folded her hands in front of herself and gave him a demure smile.

"Appreciate the offer, dudette, but I'm not leaving without my friends,"

"But of course! You may leave with them too!" She smiled more. "And all you have to do is grovel at my feet like the peasant that you are,"

Yasuhiro started to laugh and laugh. "No thank you, your highness. Only thing you could properly rule over is a playground at a fast-food place,"

The demure smile slipped from Junko's face and she scowled angrily at him.

"Stop laughing,"

"Man, we were all so scared of you, but you're pretty much nothing but an insecure teenage girl playing dress-up! It's just a phase!"

"Stop laughing at me, you worthless scum!" She cried, whirling around to Hajime. "Shoot him. I command it,"

Yasuhiro had fallen over on the floor from laughter. "Shoot me yourself, your royal highness! Where's the man to cut off my head with a sword?"

"I said to shoot him, goddamn it! Your queen demands it!" Junko shrieked.

Hajime nodded and aimed the gun, firing it, only to have it ricochet off the walls.

"Are you blind? He is standing right in front of you!" Junko tried to keep her dignified accent, even then. "And yet you still missed!"

"If you're going to shoot someone, shoot her. I now see clearly she's just a she-devil in disguise, or was anyhow. Now she's just a frightened little girl, and she knows it too, because she doesn't even have despair to fall back on anymore," Yasuhiro said seriously, staring Hajime down. "Shoot her and save us all from even more bloodshed and horror,"

"Shoot _somebody_, at least! Prove to me you are more than a measly commoner!" Junko commanded. "I saved you from starvation, do you no longer recall? I gave you everything. You said you wished to get back at men like him. Men who have all this talent and use to keep talentless people like you down,"

"She's right," Hajime aimed the gun at Yasuhiro again.

"She's lying,"

"She's told me far more truths than anyone else in my life has," Hajime shot Yasuhiro three times in the chest and watched him fall over onto his side. Blood dripped out of the wounds, and yet he was still smiling.

"That's alright, I'm not mad at you,"

"Shut up!" Hajime cried, shooting another round at his face. He continued to spray bullets at the corpse until he was panting and the gun only uttered an empty click.

"We are very impressed with you, Hajime-kun," She purred.

"I didn't kill him for you," He stared at her levelly, making her laugh.

"On the contrary, doesn't everything you do have my name written on it?" She stepped closer and gently ran her finger down his skull necklace. "You like to pretend you have free will, secretly knowing that you belong to me more than any of the others. Because I made you like this, Hajime-kun. I created you in the perfect vision of despair. I know a few of my servants wish to leave me, but you never would. You are my faithful servant to the end, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Hajime admitted softly. "Until the end,"

Junko smiled. "Hifumi-kun knew that about us. That is why he wished to join us and be ruled under us. He was far too full of ideas though, bad ideas. And we had to put a stop to that. Much like we'll put a stop to all of this tomorrow night. This quest of hope. We'll stop it by finishing off Leon-kun and Kaito-kun. Here is my idea for how to do it..." And she told him an idea that was fit for a queen.

* * *

Hajime didn't sleep for a long time that night and instead hung out on the hotel's front lawn with a bunch of other people, watching the construction go down. Souda took one side while Iruma took the other. Their faces were covered by goggles and plate masks, which only added to their extravagant appearance; Souda's hair had grown longer and he had a large toolbelt around his waist with a bright yellow mechanic jumpsuit on. Iruma wore a sultry steampunk princess gown that was low-cut and extremely short. One long white opera glove covered up the burns on her arm while a kid glove was on her unblemished arm.

"I hope we're invited tomorrow. I wanna see these babies work!" Souda chuckled. Iruma loudly turned the power-drill on.

"Look, Ibuki-mama! A fireworks show!" Satoshi pointed eagerly. Ibuki laughed, wearing a dark purple and red punk-styled kimono.

"But those are fireworks for adults. Good little boys should be in bed," Ibuki took his baseball cap off his dark head and jokingly pulled it down.

"Awww, can't I watch them work?"

"If they're still working tomorrow, you may," Ibuki promised with a grin. "I'll even sing you a lullaby tonight!"

Satoshi pouted, and Ibuki quickly led him away.

"Yeah, just what the fuck has gotten everyone so excited?" Hiyoko asked, her hands on her hips. Her hair was worn loose and flowing for once with a flowery pink cluster of flowers pinned to the side. Her kimono was a flowing pale pink furisode with white trim; her sleeves reached the ground. She wore it with red geta and covered her smirk with a pink fan. "Better be something worth my time,"

"I myself am unclear on the exact details, but I believe our Dark Empress of Evil intends to punish the nonbelievers," Gundham suggested loudly, wearing a tight robe and jacket with tribal marks painted on his forehead.

"But what are we going to do to them?"

"Nobody knows...but does it matter?" Tsumugi sighed happily, dangerously swaying on her thick black heels. "Tomorrow, everyone will know. Everyone in New Nagasaki is going to know. It's going to be life-changing," She drooled happily, her hair up in pigtails tied with Kuma-chan scrunchies. She wore a sheer brown slip dress patterned with pink splashes that exposed her lacy black underwear and matching lacy caramel thigh-highs and garters.

"Looking good, Tsumugi-chan! You should dress like that more often and flatter your figure!" Teruteru whistled from somewhere, decked out in a red and yellow chef's outfit. Tsumugi yelped in embarrassment and desperately tried to cover herself up.

"S-She told me this was something she'd wear!"

Hajime went to bed shortly after that exchange. The work continued for an hour more before that was finished as well and the crowd soon dispersed.

Standing on the trunks of two flatbed trucks were two cages with four large chains attached to square-shaped holes on the inside, hooked to the ends of four cars. Inside the cages was a single set of silver handcuffs.

* * *

Leon woke up the next morning of the thirtieth to the sound of footsteps. He sat up and got out of bed, realizing he must've spent most of the night thinking. He went up to the bars. Whatever would happen next that day, it would ultimately end in their deaths. That was that. He figured Yasuhiro had already been killed yesterday, as there were a lot of gun shots coming from the direction he was kept in, and not Kaito. Maybe it was for the best.

"Wake up, nonbeliever. The time has come for you to pay your dues," A man in a makeshift straitjacket ordered, and Leon nodded. Next to him was Nekomaru, wearing a stainless white coat and thick gloves.

"None of this was my idea," He said to Leon as he opened up the cell and handcuffed him again.

"I'm bettin' none of this is," He responded. "Who was killed yesterday?"

"Hagakure-san, trying to escape,"

"Isn't that something? I bet one of these days, one of you will be shot trying to escape too,"

They led Leon out of the hallway and into the main office, meeting up with Fuyuhiko and Peko, who had Kaito between them.

"They told me too," He grumbled lowly. "I couldn't believe it at first,"

The two were pushed into police vans and locked up, sat across from each other with their cuffed hands between their legs.

"I heard from that swordswoman all of New Nagasaki is going to be here. Do you think they're going to crucify us?" Kaito asked quietly.

"Probably, or something like that," Leon sighed. "I'm badly scared. Believe it or not, I'm not great with pain tolerance,"

Kaito just nodded. "I just can't believe it'll end like this. We're going to get killed, and all for nothing,"

The two sat in silence for the remainder of the ride. Leon leaned back slightly and closed his eyes, thinking of Kaede. He thought of his mom. He started thinking about random things like getting out of bed for school in the mornings. Attending his first baseball game with Kanon. Finding a discarded swimsuit magazine in the trash and looking through it curiously when he was around nine. That time he threw up in gym class. He was still afraid and didn't want to die, but somehow he also knew it was the way things were meant to be. Life was very much just an idle backstage room, waiting for your chance to go on. Maybe his next life would be something more fulfilling. Maybe his next life would be something more peaceful.

After a few minutes, the trucks stopped and Peko, Fuyuhiko, Gundham, and Nekomaru threw open the doors and dragged the two men out, pulling them silently over to two giant cages set up on the backs of two flat-bed trucks. Surrounding the trucks was a huge crowd, cheering and chattering loudly. There were even obvious couples and friends there; lots of hand-holding and being hoisted onto shoulders to see the scenes better. Leon looked at their faces; many turned away, seemingly afraid. Others seemed more excited for what was to happen.

He also thought it looked more like a demented costume party; one woman standing in the center was wearing an elaborate ball gown covered in bloody roses. A trio near the front had a girl dressed in a sexy nurse outfit, a man wearing a forest-green Shinto shrine outfit, and another woman wearing a black and purple Queen of Hearts outfit with a black mourning veil pulled over her face.

Leon and Kaito were dragged over onto the trucks, and Kaito's eyes grew wide and he whispered urgently to Leon: "They're going to rip us apart!"

"Go on, get inside," Fuyuhiko pushed Leon over onto his own truck, and he stood on it. "And take your shirt off!"

Leon complied, slowly slipping it off and feeling the cold morning air on his skin. Kaito took his own off too, making several people in the crowd gasp audibly. Their ribs were visible and they were horribly thin from their walk.

"Get in the cage." Peko was giving the orders then, walking over to them. Leon wildly thought how in another life, he'd enjoy getting bossed around by a femme fatale in heels. He backed up into his cage and heard the four cars starting up behind him. Peko and Nekomaru worked together, helping get everything situated. Peko's expression was unreadable, but Nekomaru seemed disgusted.

"Damn, she's even got women calling the shots for her here, huh? That's something that'd never fly where we're from!" Leon spoke up, smirking at Peko as she slipped his hands into the cuffs. The crowd tittered nervously, unsure of what was happening. She offered him chains, but he spat on him and a few scattered cheers sounded through the crowd.

"Please stop making this harder than it has to be," Nekomaru ordered, almost sounding remorseful.

"Ooooh, a rockstar in chains? That should be his new album cover!" A girl snickered from somewhere in the crowd. Leon somehow knew the majority of them, despite cheering on the resistance, wouldn't actually resist themselves. There was something too terrifying about open rebellion. Still, maybe there was still hope.

Peko and Nekomaru finished strapping them in, pressing their arms firmly at their sides and locking them in the handcuffs. They hurried out of the cage and the doors shut, sealing them inside. Leon glanced over at Kaito and saw him standing there, defiantly.

A giant sign above them flickered a few times. Leon looked out over the crowd again. "I hope you all remember what you see here today! We're only being executed because she's afraid of us, afraid of our hope! Just think about that the next time you feel it, or try to run from her! You'll just be next, she'll execute you too, execute you like you were some expendable bystander!" His voice carried through the crowd, strengthened by years of singing. "Some of you already know that this is wrong!"

"Leon-san!" Kaito called out.

Junko was walking down the steps then, Hajime by her side. He kept his head down, dressed in a simple black suit with his hair in his face. Junko, on the other hand, was decked out in a tiny red gown that hugged her curves tightly, thigh-high lacy boots with thick heels, leather red gloves, a long black cloak with a spiky high collar, a large red scepter, and her hair up in pigtails tied with Kuma-chan scrunchies. A crown was also on her head.

It was truly her moment, shown by the cheers and applause she received as she strode out on stage, her heels clicking loudly in a tone of other-worldliness. She smiled sweetly and stepped over to the microphone set out.

"Hajime-kun," She cleared her throat, and he wordlessly handed her a purple slip of paper that she unfolded. "On this day of September Thirtieth, in the year of 1994 that will now be called Year One after the pandemic, I, Junko Enoshima-"

"But that's not truly your name, is it? Tell them what you're truly called!" Kaito called out, but Junko just ignored him and continued on.

"These two men are spies, sent here with seductive and destructive methods to uproot our beautifully-established community!" She gasped. "Much like we sought out and killed the other spies sent by their community, we must now do the same here. Kill them, execute them, punish them, for they had done something bad and got caught!" She giggled and handed the paper back to Hajime. "And what would be a good execution for a wannabe rockstar and a wannabe astronaut, hm?"

Most of the crowd remained silent, but a few chose to speak up.

"Crucify them!" The nurse cheered.

"How about you burn them alive and cut off their heads?" The gambler tittered.

"Dismember them," The priest nodded.

"Do all three!" A cosplayer shouted from the middle of the crowd.

Junko laughed. "I think dismemberment would be a very fitting execution for them indeed. So, let's not waste any more time and get straight to it then!" She smiled. "If you have small children, you are excused from watching,"

Ibuki chuckled a bit. Satoshi was still in bed, asleep.

Junko pointed her scepter at the cars, which started up their engines. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's Punishment Time!" She cheered loudly, about to give the order when a freckled redhead jumped onto the stage.

"N-No! Please stop this! This is wrong!" She scolded. She had a fancy black camera around her neck and wore a simple white T-shirt and tight ripped jean shorts. "Everything about this is wrong! I wasn't much before the world ended, just some latchkey kid who liked to take pictures. But I do also know this isn't how Japanese people act! We call ourselves such a proud nation, yet we want to encourage this? Listen to the whims of some...some...blonde, despair-loving whore with fake tits?!"

The crowd gasped in shock and disgust.

"I know I'm speaking out of turn, but that's what she is. I'll go take my seat now. Just know that whatever you see here today, even if you think it's alright, will haunt you in your nightmares for life," She started to walk off, only freezing when she heard Junko's sickly-sweet voice reach her.

"Mahiru-chan...Mahiru-chan...!" She slowly stepped towards her. "I knew about everything, you know. Your plans to leave...but why? You were one of my first, one of my best and most loyal workers. I would've given you everything you wanted, you know," She stood directly in front of her, and Mahiru looked horrified. "But I guess it doesn't matter now. I don't need you anymore. I need people I can trust,"

"N-No..." Mahiru took a few steps back, teetering at the edge of the stage.

"I suppose you could say that you've been let go!" She snickered and shoved Mahiru right off the stage. The redhead didn't even have time to scream as her head hit the ground hard, blood splattering from it.

Ibuki and Hiyoko screamed in absolute horror, Ibuki quickly rushing over and trying to rouse Mahiru. Hiyoko cried.

"You are a fucking crazy bitch, you know that?!" She accused, pointing a finger at Junko and running out of the crowd.

Junko just ignored the commotion and sighed in a bored tone. "Does anyone else wish to interrupt?" She scanned the crowd. Even Mikan seemed terrified, slinking back with a face as white as her clothes. Junko smiled brightly. "Then let's continue-!"

Everyone suddenly turned to look, glancing around and whispering about the last-arrived guest. It was something not even Junko had predicted, and she angrily stomped her foot.

"It's that crazy bastard, Servant!" Iruma cried, hands on her hips. "He's going to fucking run us all over and kill us!" She dashed from the crowd, and a few other people panicked and took off running as well, making Junko wring her hands.

Everything was starting to go wrong again; she hadn't foreseen any of that, like with Kizakura and that woman slitting her throat on the window glass, and Mukuro falling from the balcony with her niece in her...

A few other people began to take off as well, finally beholding what had made Miu Iruma of all people terrified; the man once known as Nagito Komaeda who was now known as The Servant, driving a heavily-armored tank dangerously close to the crowd.

"Goddamn it, stay still! Don't walk away from me like that! I'm supposed to be giving you despair, nobody else!" Junko cried, tightening her grip on her scepter.

The Servant climbed out from the top of the tank, his clothes ragged and covered in red-pink blood. His hair was limp and messy and falling out in some places, and his eyes were sunken-in. Still, he smiled at her. "Look what I got for you! This'll be good, right? You like this, right?" He became consumed by a violent coughing fit, falling a few steps out of the tank and hacking the blood profusely onto the grass. The remaining members of the crowd gasped and drew back in horror.

"Kill him," Junko ordered Hajime, her eyes still trained on The Servant. "He is ruining my execution! I want him gone!"

"Right..." Hajime jumped off the stage and wandered over to where Nagito was getting back into his tank, holding his hands up.

"Look, Hinata-san! Look what I brought!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's great, but it's too big to drive around a place like this," He subtly reached for his gun. "Get it out of here before you accidentally run someone over,"

"Awww, you're no fun," The Servant pouted, accidentally elbowing the dashboard and making the tank jerk backwards, ramming into an electrical pole. Sonia screamed and just narrowly dodged it as it came down in a puddle of water, sparking.

Up on the stage, Leon and Kaito stared at the sparks curiously.

"I don't think that's normal," Leon whispered to himself before Kaito suddenly perked up.

"Look! Look at the sparks!" He yelled out, and indeed the sparks had multiplied by a thousand fold, setting off a small fire that gradually started to grow.

"Shit! Souda-san, do something about that power line!" Hajime cried out.

The air felt full of electricity, and Junko cried out in pure despair.

"No!"

Leon blinked and saw that she was no longer there; only thing that remained was her scepter, which clattered lamely onto the stage.

"You think it'll be enough?" Kaito asked, and Leon nodded as they watched the fire suddenly spread and begin to consume everything in its path. It roared loudly. He heard a familiar feminine voice telling him he had done a great job, and he smiled widely.

"Thank God...I'm not afraid of anything, I will go without fear in my heart-"

And both the hopeful and despairful alike were consumed alive by the holy fire that day.


	31. Makoto 11: Drowning

**Makoto 11: Drowning**

**#####**

**Undisclosed Location; October 1st, 1994**

* * *

Makoto woke up early under a blue morning sky, shivering and moaning at the violent roiling in his stomach. He pulled his hoodie close to his body. "Sick..." He mumbled, making Blavatsky bark happily and run back with a piece of driftwood, making Makoto laugh weakly. "I said sick, not stick. It'll have to do,"

Soon he had a small fire going and he shivered in spite of it. He had fallen sick three days after Yasuhiro, Leon, and Kaito had left him behind, but sick with what? Makoto couldn't tell. All he knew was that he was chilled to the bone with the worst stomach pains he had ever had in his life. Maybe food poisoning was going to be the thing that finally finished him off. It'd be just his luck. Bad stomach pains; then a day later, mild diarrhea that reeked of fish.

Makoto curiously dug his hands though his pockets and found a notebook and his old key ring. He stared at it for a time, finding it to just be a simple house key encased in plastic; Naegi 269, it read. He slipped the key out of the encasing and threw it long, watching it sail through the sky and hearing it cling quietly on some rocks far away. The last piece of identity he had was gone and would remain there until the end of time. He quickly wrote a note to Sayaka, detailing to her everything that had happened up until he broke his leg.

_Even if I don't make it back, you still have to go on. You and the baby both._

He finished writing and slipped the paper into the clear plastic, gently attaching it to Blavatsky's collar. "Go on, boy. Go find me some more fish. Maybe I can make some more sushi with it,"

Once the dog ran off, Makoto took the empty bottle of tea brought to him in lieu of a stick once and filled it with gritty, muddy water from the tiny creek and drank from it, shuddering at the taste. The dirt stuck to his teeth. Still, it was better than having none, especially since his mouth was awfully dry. He quickly drained the entire bottle, then filled it again and drank it all, clutching at his stomach with a groan.

"Just my luck," He laughed at himself, placing a hand at his lower back. He sat up slightly and slumped over, dozing a bit.

* * *

That afternoon, Makoto was suddenly roused from his sleep with nothing but a feeling of surety. Whatever was meant to happen, was happening then. He glanced up at the top of the hill and grimaced, beginning to crawl anyway. Blavatsky whined, following him, likely wondering why his human was leaving behind his water and warm fire. And indeed, Makoto did have all of those things down there, and for a wild second, briefly paused in his climbing, glancing over at his makeshift camp. He shook his head and kept crawling, grunting as he tried to grab desperately at the rocks. It had rained briefly a day prior, so half of him felt like it was sinking into the softer mud.

As he climbed higher, he noticed Blavatsky panting and wiped his own forehead, trembling. Why had it suddenly gotten so hot? He reached the top and with a mighty groan, hoisted himself up and cried out in pain as he laid on the broken street, curling up and grabbing his stomach. His broken leg had begun throbbing again; red-hot, angry pain. Blavatsky was right by his side, whining and licking his face.

Makoto finally sat up, glancing to the west and suppressing a gasp. "Look at that...oh my gosh...everyone is dead...they're all dead,"

To his right, further off, the entire city of Nagasaki was brilliantly lit up with red-orange flames, almost like an early Christmas decoration. Where had the fire come from, how did it spread? Maybe it was some kind of electrical fire due to an overload or something. If Leon, Yasuhiro, and Kaito had still been walking, maybe they would've been alright, but somehow Makoto knew that in his heart he would never see them again.

He remembered his note to Sayaka and knew he'd have to continue it and let everyone know what had happened. Nagasaki was the fashionista's domain, but it was all burned down. Whatever they were doing over there proved to be too much and they destroyed themselves.

Later though. His stomach churned violently and he clutched at it with a moan, swallowing sickly. The climb had overexerted him too much, and all he wanted was to go back to sleep. So he curled up and soon fell asleep, sleeping sounder once he used the bathroom after he felt his stomach drop. In the back of his mind he kept wondering how long that fire would burn for, and if it'd spread any farther. Did he want to know? Did anyone?

* * *

Makoto woke up around evening the next day, shaking and trembling. He tried to take a breath but could only breathe shallowly. His mouth was dry and cracked. He moaned lowly and managed to sit up, swallowing sickly. Blavatsky came by with another fish in his mouth, and Makoto very slowly started a fire, nearly burning the fish when he had to crawl off and use the bathroom again. He chopped the fish up into small pieces and rolled them up, tossing a few to Blavatsky. "Sushi is on the house again," He tried to laugh, gagging instead. He slowly ate only two of his six pieces, shaking. "You can have the rest,"

Blavatsky whined.

"Go ahead...my stomach hurts too much to eat," He huddled into his jacket, trembling. His breath sounded weak and ragged.

Around eight, Blavatsky ran off and returned with one of Makoto's blankets in his mouth. He smiled and gave him a weak pat before curling up underneath it. Blavatsky slept beside him, close by to give him warmth. Makoto scooted a bit closer to the fire and began to toss and turn uneasily, moaning and groaning as his stomach flipped and roiled and tied itself into thick, painful knots in the night. He finally curled up in a half-fetal position before he was able to fully sleep.

Blavatsky whined as he watched The Man fitfully rest. He had the smell of sickness and death all over him; whenever he breathed in good air, he breathed out the scent of death. It was in the towns Blavatsky traveled through, on the fish and rabbits he caught, and on the wolves he attacked at Chiaki's place. He'd fight it off here too, except this Man had the smell inside of him.

Makoto woke up the next morning and sighed, slowly crawling out of his blanket and relieving himself, covering his face to ward off the strong fishy smell. The resulting diarrhea was painless. He shivered and looked at his hands, wincing at how wrinkled they had gotten. His tongue felt like a log in his mouth; he tried to spit but couldn't muster up the saliva needed.

Was he dying? Maybe he finally was.

He called Blavatsky over and took the note out of the plastic, adding to it what he had saw the other day. He then replaced the note and slept again.

When Makoto woke up that night, he shuddered upon seeing another fish at his feet. He trembled as he gut it and tossed it to Blavatsky, gagging sickly and quickly trying to swallow down whatever came back up. He laid back down on the ground and closed his eyes, feeling dizzy and cold.

* * *

"Is that Blavatsky? Feels like forever since we last saw each other!" A cheerful voice roused Makoto from his sleep, making him groan and slowly look over. Blavatsky barked happily and ran over to the stranger. Makoto shivered.

"Who are you?" He finally croaked out, and the figure hurried over.

"Gokuhara Gonta, that's who! Who are you?" He asked cheerfully. Makoto winced.

"Makoto...t-that's who I am..." Wasn't that who he was? His breathing became shallow again and he gagged sickly, finally gasping and feeling his eyes roll back into his head. He fainted.

* * *

When Makoto finally came to, it was the third of October, though neither him nor Gonta knew the date. Gonta had built a large fire and gently wrapped Makoto up in all of his blankets and a sleeping bag. Blavatsky laid contently by the fire.

"Gonta-san," Makoto coughed harshly from the dryness in his throat.

Gonta hurried over instantly, his dark eyes shining. His hair was neater and kept tied back behind him, and Makoto felt as though he carried himself differently than he had just five weeks ago.

"What happened to leg? Gonta broke his leg once, he did! Fell out of a tree, believe it or not! Got a cast on it and it stopped hurting," He said proudly.

"Mine...broken...I want...water..." Makoto trembled, and Gonta nodded and eagerly held out a case of water bottles. Makoto drank two and half of the third one, shivering. It was clean and cool. After he drank it, he sighed in relief. "Gonta-san...how'd you know how to find me?"

"Why, Chihiro-kun told me! He can talk in Gonta's dreams." He smiled. "He has a little girl now, did you know that? Her name is Umi-chan, isn't that funny?"

Makoto just winced. "I have more wrong with me than just my leg. I'm badly sick, Gonta-san. Diarrhea and stomach cramps. Think it might be a form of food poisoning,"

"Right! You just tell Gonta what to do! He loves to help!" He leaned in close to Makoto. He had a sudden thought that he had more sparkle in his eyes and seemed brighter. What happened to him over there? Did he know what happened to Kyoko and Kizakura? He shook his head. He could ask those questions later. His diarrhea had gotten more profuse and he was worried about dehydration.

"I need a tent, and maybe antibodies...those might be hard to find. For now, just bring me back as much water as you can find. It should be easy enough if you look in peoples' gloveboxes in their cars," He laid back down and covered his eyes with his arm.

"Right!" Gonta nodded and started to run off with Blavatsky, pausing a bit. "Dreams are funny, aren't they? Chihiro-kun can talk and tells me where to go and what to do. He even has a little girl with his eyes. But Gonta is worried. Whenever Gonta tries to ask Chihiro-kun anything about him, he just turns away from me. What happened, Makoto-san? He's alright, isn't he? And that little girl-"

Makoto just shook his head. He couldn't talk about that yet. Gonta nodded slowly and ran off, Blavatsky at his ankles. Makoto used the bathroom again and fell asleep.

* * *

"Makoto-san, wake up-!" Gonta gently woke Makoto up, who mumbled slightly and slowly opened his eyes. "Got more water. And food. Gonta's father always told him you ate even with diarrhea! And this too," He produced a bright orange sleeping bag from somewhere.

"You did good," Makoto nodded as he was helped into the sleeping bag, gasping in sudden pain. "I don't know if I can eat though,"

"Gonta will help," He insisted. "He'll find pot or something for water," He set the bottles beside Makoto, watching him down two more. He choked lightly. "Makoto-san..."

"He's dead," He looked away with a wince. "Fujisaki-san was killed nearly a month ago at this point. It was at my wedding...it was politically-minded though, so I suppose it could be ruled as an assassination," He sighed. "I'm sorry. As for that little girl...one of the other Ministers was pregnant. I think that's their child you're seeing,"

Gonta nodded and remained silent for a time as he cooked their food, a few tears falling. Once he finished, he just sniffled and looked back at Makoto. "Gonta knew, somehow. He kept running away from Gonta. But Gonta still misses him badly. He was my best friend, you know? He was. Gonta knows he will see him in the afterlife though, where he can talk and hear and Gonta can think. Isn't that nice?" His eyes were bright. "And Gonta will play all day with his daughter Umi-chan and help take care of his pretty lady,"

Makoto just nodded.

"It was the evil lady who killed Chihiro-kun. Gonta know that. But she got punished. Gonta saw that, he did! Sparks like fireworks rained down and killed her for what she did to Chihiro-kun and Kizakura-san,"

"What happened to him?" Makoto asked, curious.

"They shot him down in Saga!"

"And Kirigiri-san?"

"Gonta saw her once, changing a bulb. Doing job. But Gonta never saw her again, and he wonder; did she see him? Gonta will never know,"

The food was finally done and Gonta watered the vegetable soup down enough to make it into a thin broth, then helped Makoto sip it. Makoto managed to drink it all down along with some water, then the two fell asleep with Blavatsky inbetween them.

* * *

"Gonta-san..." Makoto choked out, his voice at a whisper. Despite the steady amount of water he was receiving, he felt like it wasn't enough; his breath was dust in his throat and his diarrhea had worsened to the point of being nearly-constant. His stomach was in a constant knot, and his legs cramped badly. "I have to get inside somewhere and get more water and have an actual bathroom," He shivered. "Otherwise, I'll die. We're going to have to drive because we're in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is back that way,"

"Gonta can't drive!" Gonta gasped, making Makoto's eyes widen.

"I can't either..." He sighed. "Guess I'll have to do it...I took a class on it once my first year of high school," He shivered. "But first we need to make a travois, one of those things I saw in a survival show on TV once,"

Gonta nodded. "I've seen those! You cut holes in a sleeping bag for strings!" He got out a pocket knife. "No worry, Makoto-san! Gonta knows what to do!"

Makoto just leaned back and tried to relax, trembling. It'd be hard to find a car that actually worked, and barring that, it'd still need to have keys in the ignition. Surely they could find something though, right?

Gonta finished the travois and hoisted Makoto up, carrying him on his back like a baby. "Gonta can carry lots of weight! No worry!"

Makoto gagged and shivered as they headed off. He felt a strange sense of exhilaration as he watched the ditch he fell down in quickly leave his sight. He was convinced he would die there. He might still die, just not alone in a ditch with a broken leg. He dozed off, barely noticing the scent of fish coming from him.

* * *

The two traveled along for the better part of the day, finding plenty of buses but no cars. A bus would be too heavy and unstable to drive, Makoto decided.

Finally, they came across a rusty blue Toyota; a model from '82. Makoto shivered uncontrollably as Gonta gently placed him behind the wheel and Makoto looked around, cheering silently to himself when he found the keys in the ignition. It was near the top of a hill too, so if they just gave it a push and turned the engine on, it'd likely drive just fine. Blavatsky got in the back as Gonta checked the exterior of the car to make sure there weren't any flat tires or anything. Really, it was almost too good to be true.

Makoto sat stretched out with his legs in front of him, trembling with his hands on the wheel. Gonta gave the car a great push and Makoto turned the key in the ignition, hearing the car beginning to shudder to life.

"Get in!" He yelled at Gonta, who jumped into the car and closed the door at the last second as the car fell down the hill. Makoto tightened his grip on the steering wheel and swerved the car to the left, watching the speedometer. Once the car drove off the hill, it continued at a slow pace, but was steady. Both Makoto and Gonta cheered.

"Yes, it's working!" Makoto smiled to himself.

Blavatsky barked happily, thinking about how he used to take drives with his old masters, back when he had been named Takoyaki and there had been no pandemic. He decided he liked riding with these new masters of his too.

* * *

They drove for about twenty-thirty minutes, Makoto nervously swerving the wheel around and being shaky. Still, the car remained firmly on the road, and by the thirty-minute mark, Makoto's breath was coming in shallowly and his stomach churned madly.

"There. We can rest for the night in there," He pointed to a temple in the distance, turning the car off. He shivered violently, feeling wet and cold. "Thank you for helping me out like this, Gonta-san. I...really...appreciate...it..." He silenced and his eyes grew wide. Gonta stared at him, unsure, drawing back when Makoto suddenly vomited clear liquid violently. It splattered in his lap and brought tears to his eyes as he sputtered and choked. After he finished, he fell forward, passing out onto the horn.

Gonta quickly scooped Makoto up and carried him into the temple, laying him down on a kitchen table he dragged into the main room where a fireplace was. Luckily, the temple had doubled as a house at one point. He started a fire and bundled Makoto up in blankets, taking some of the heavier clothes off him. Makoto shivered and shuddered in his sleep, waking up only to vomit. Gonta found two large metal pails in a storage closet and placed one under him and the other by his head. His skin was a dangerous shade of blue and he was cold to the touch.

Gonta watched him worriedly. When Makoto woke up, he'd likely ask him what to do about the illness, but...what if he never woke up?

Blavatsky whined, and Gonta slept on a cot beside the fire. Outside, a powerful thunderstorm raged on, the winds angering the fire in Nagasaki and spreading it south where many more people would die. The lighting flashed every few seconds, charged by the electricity left behind. The wind battered at the windows. The rain was just a tiny drizzle.


	32. Makoto 12: Time to Go Home

**Makoto 12: Time to Go Home**

**######**

**Undisclosed Location; Somewhere on Honshu; October 4th, 1994**

* * *

"Did ya know I almost kicked the bucket?" Chihiro asked calmly, looking ahead of him. The wind and rain howled around them, but Chihiro's umbrella remained firmly closed at his hip. Real men aren't worried about a little storm. He was still wearing the usual boots, torn jeans, purple checkered shirt, and gold chain, which he fingered.

"You did? Gonta no believe that for second! You so strong and hearty!" Gonta gasped.

Chihiro laughed happily. His voice was deep and low; a mixed Nagasaki-Osaka dialect in his accent. Gonta loved to listen to Chihiro talk, he found his voice beautiful. "I sure did, I did! The crazies didn't get me, but a scratch on my leg did. Wanna see?"

Gonta nodded and eagerly leaned in, watching as Chihiro unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants down around his ankles. The scar was an ugly, barely-healed one that started at his groin and twisted around his midshin.

"You almost died from_ that?_" Gonta asked doubtfully, and Chihiro nodded, buckling his belt again. He took to playing with the necklace.

"Bet ya fuckin' ass I did. It ain't deep, but germs got inside and infected it. That is what an infection is, Gonta-kun," He explained. "They're the worst things. Infection is why Despair Disease killed the people it did,"

"Infection," Gonta repeated, fascinated.

"Makoto-san got an infection now," Chihiro crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was soaked from the rain.

"Don't tell Gonta such scary things, Chihiro-kun!" Gonta cried.

"These things are the truest truth. I ain't makin' up lies to scare ya. He got an infection in his small intestine. He likely got it 'cuz he was drinking bad water and eating ill-prepared fish for two weeks. Ya gotta take care of him. It ain't gonna be easy, and even if ya do everything ya can, he might still die,"

"Gonta no want him to die," He trembled. Chihiro took his hands easily, though Gonta couldn't actually feel it, like his best friend was made of smoke.

"I didn't say it'd be easy. But ya still gotta move on. Tell everyone what ya saw by the shoreline. If Makoto-san was meant to be by ya side, he'll recover. If not, then he'll die and that's that. It's the way it's meant to be, like when I died," Chihiro stared at him.

"But-"

"I showed ya my leg for a reason. This infection is a strange lil' bugger, but it can still be cured using things in places like this," Chihiro vanished for a second and Gonta looked around, finding himself in a tiny convenience store. The store was dark, but the fridges were still lit-up and frosty.

"Chihiro-kun?" Gonta asked, glancing around.

"Yo, I'm feelin' great after the game I just won!" Chihiro cheered, appearing in a transparent white shirt with a green '69' written on it, tiny green gym shorts, and a sparkly green scrunchie in his ponytail. In his hands was a red bottle of sports drink.

"Chihiro-kun?"

"Yuppity yuppity yup! Check this out!" He held the bottle up. "This stuff's great for restoring electrolytes and proteins. If ya give Makoto-san a ton o' these, soon he'll be perked right up!" Chihiro placed several different colours on the counter. "Ya can also make ya own mix, using a tablespoon of sugar, tablespoon of salt, water, and a banana to taste. How much ya give him depends on how severe his case is. Judgin' by the state ya brought him here in, I'd say...moderate case? Plenty of juice and water too. Change his buckets when they get full. Don't forget about food, as it'll help restore normal intestinal-"

"Gonta no remember all of that!" Gonta cried, and Chihiro stopped talking and stared at him levelly.

"Ya on ya own, bro. Ya gotta 'cuz there's nobody else,"

Gonta started to cry, and Chihiro drew his hand back and delivered a hard slap to him. There was no actual pain, but Gonta still felt the resulting sting and his head being snapped back.

"Man up. For cryin' out loud, stop actin' like such a pansy round me!" He groaned. Gonta stared at him, a hand on his cheek. "Give him food. Ya can rouse him for food and treatment. Give him at least two bottles of oral rehydration therapy and three bottles of water every hour. Give him food too, what ya give don't matter. But ya gotta rehydrate him, that's the most important. If ya don't, he will die from dehydration,"

"He scares me. He's blue and his eyes are sunken...he doesn't look like Makoto-san anymore," Gonta whispered. "He looks dead,"

"He looks like that 'cuz of dehydration. Ya still gotta feed him, give him that mix every hour. Keep him warm, empty his buckets. Hope. That's all ya can do now," Chihiro shrugged.

"Alright! Gonta try his best and be a man, for Chihiro-kun and Makoto-san both!" Gonta announced. "Gonta just wish that...you were still here, Chihiro-kun..."

Chihiro gently patted him. "Ya will do a bang-up job, kid. I know ya will,"

Gonta woke up and found Chihiro was nowhere to be seen. On the counter were cases of water and sports drinks, as well as some packets of powder used to make oral rehydration drinks at home. Gonta stared at the counter for a very long time before he picked everything up and headed out into the night.

* * *

Gonta returned to the temple around four in the morning, his clothes soaked from the rain. He hurried over to Makoto, who was lightly groaning in his sleep. Blavatsky excitedly barked a greeting.

"Makoto-san?" Gonta tried, pulling a packaged sandwich out of the bag as well. "You have to wake up and drink and eat. Chihiro-kun told Gonta everything he had to do for you,"

Makoto responded with another low moan, turning to the side and vomiting in his bucket. His eyes were on Gonta, and Gonta took that opportunity to help him sit up and swallow down the bottles of solution, as well as a few bites of the sandwich. Makoto sputtered and gagged a few times, and Gonta held him steady, waiting for the fluids to settle. Makoto breathed shallowly, collapsing back into bed. He shivered and gagged, laying as still as a corpse. Gonta watched him uneasily, no way of knowing if the solution was working or not.

The wind howled outside.

Hope's Peak felt so terribly far away.

* * *

Makoto's battle with cholera only lasted a few days, but each day felt like a cyclic battle. His hourly diet for the first two days was nothing but bland porridge and sports drinks, water, vegetable juices, and tea. He had no idea what he was drinking most of the time and could only be roused for treatment. His skin was cold to the touch and it also had trouble snapping back to place if pinched. His vomiting and diarrhea were relentless. Gonta did his part and emptied the buckets whenever needed, keeping them clean along with Makoto.

The third day, Makoto's breathing became deeper and he stirred a bit in his sleep. The vomiting became lighter.

The fourth day, the vomiting stopped entirely and the diarrhea was lighter. Makoto was able to remain conscious for hours at a time and was fed rice balls alongside the usual oral rehydration solutions.

The fifth day, Makoto's skin had returned to normal.

On the sixth day, Gonta was roused from a nap by Makoto, grinning hugely.

"I'm alive," He gasped.

"You are! Gonta so happy!" He cheered.

"Can I have something to eat? Chocolate pudding? I really like that," Makoto asked softly. "I still feel a tad weak,"

Gonta sprung to his feet with a nod. "Pudding it is!" He removed the two buckets later that day as Makoto ate.

He got some crutches from the store and Makoto was unsteady on them at first, shaking and trembling as he struggled to walk. Gonta helped keep him steady.

By the fourteenth of October, Makoto was strong enough to head outside, doing so in a thick red jacket. He smiled a bit.

Still, they had to hurry. The weather had been worryingly humid for the past few days, and the storms at night had grown stronger. Makoto had enough strength to drive again, so after gathering up their bearings, they hopped into the '82 Toyota and drove off, going slow and unsteady as usual.

* * *

As they drove for a day, the clouds darkened and the seas splashed angrily, bringing huge waves of green foam far from the sand and instead into town. Makoto winced at the sight. "Typhoon,"

"Goodness, no! How long?" Gonta asked as Makoto slowly backed up into a nearby hotel parking lot. He shrugged.

"Few days. If it floods...we could be here for a few months. Maybe until December. This place floods bad," They quickly got out of the car and killed the engine. "But surely we won't be here that long,"

"If you say so," Gonta nodded, and the trio hurried inside just as the wind started to pick up ferociously.

* * *

Makoto screamed out into the darkness, panting heavily. He fumbled for the lamp on the nightstand and pressed it twice before he laughed at himself. He was still so reliant on technology, even all this time later. He lit the lantern at the foot of his bed instead and slowly got out, trembling. He winced as he got out his crutches and tried to balance on them. His leg had healed crookedly and he would be stuck with a limp for the rest of his life. Still, it could've been a lot worse.

He shivered some more and wandered around the room, desperately having to pee. He always did after waking up; he wondered if that was leftover from when he used to wet the bed when he was younger. He pulled the metal bucket typically reserved for ice off the desk and just peed in that, dumping it down the sink. Afterwards, he sat down at the desk and buried his face in his hands.

It was early November. The typhoon had come and gone in only a week, but it brought with it practically every instance of severe weather known to man; high winds, tornadoes, giant waves, and a mess of heavy flooding that persisted even after the typhoon left thanks to several weeks of incessant rain. They had the whole town to themselves though, so at the very least they weren't bored.

A few weeks ago Makoto had searched around in the closets and found a tiny generator. He smiled to himself and started to set it up, Gonta walking in while he was in the middle of it. The storm raged outside.

"For lights?" He asked, motioning to it.

Makoto shook his head. "It's too small to power this whole hotel again,"

"Then what for?"

"You'll see," Makoto promised.

By the time another day had gone by, Makoto had set up a small movie theater area with a VCR and tiny TV and giant speakers. The generator was used to power everything. He sighed once he finished, stretching just as Gonta came in from the rain.

"What's this?" He asked. Makoto smiled at him.

"Why don't you make some popcorn and I'll show you?"

"Popcorn?"

"It's not a movie without it, is it?"

"We're going to watch a movie?!" Gonta asked eagerly, and Makoto nodded.

The two got settled in on the couch, watching a recent Godzilla movie where he fought a giant rose monster, and one of the latest and the last of the Disney movies; Aladdin. Makoto leaned on Gonta slightly, getting engrossed in the movie. The storm quieted outside somewhat.

* * *

After another week, the floodwaters had gone down some and the rain was no longer as heavy. Makoto and Gonta made their decision to move out then before another typhoon had the chance to move in and strand them again.

They left on November 17th.

* * *

They found a large white rowboat left abandoned at a nearby dock, likely once used for fishing judging by the faint smell left behind. Gonta explained he had rowed plenty of boats before, and Makoto soon caught on easily despite never having done it before. They outfitted themselves from an outfitter's store, and helped Blavatsky sit comfortably in the middle of the boat, at their feet. They got heavier clothes, lanterns, concentrated food, knives, and inner tubes. Makoto especially was glad to see concentrated food was still an option, as his struggle with cholera was still fresh in his mind and he dreaded having to make homemade sushi again and risking another infection.

They only made sixteen miles that first night, eating some rabbits they found on a shallower stretch of land.

* * *

Makoto had a nightmare the next night, trembling and crying out. He woke up and glanced worriedly at Gonta, did he wake him up with his noise?

He was standing outside of the delivery room, not allowed to see Sayaka, but he still heard her screams of pain. Soon Seiko and Miaya came outside to see him; terror on their faces. Their clothes were soaked with blood, and in Seiko's arms was a baby girl with Junko's face on her because Junko Enoshima wasn't really dead, she still walked the earth and Sayaka had just given birth to her.

He shivered.

* * *

Three days of clear skies and mild weather kept them on their path, making good progress. Another round of heavy thunderstorms and a possible threat for tornadoes forced them to take shelter at a hostel, rowing the boat right into the living room. Makoto laughed a bit at the sight.

"I wonder how impolite this is?" He teased, shutting the door tight and shoving the boat up against it.

"These storms...remind Gonta of the tornado he rescued Chihiro-kun from," Gonta spoke up suddenly, and Makoto glanced over at him.

"Right, he mentioned that once. He said that's why he trusted you," He thought about it. "Speaking of which, how did you learn he was disabled?"

"Gonta used to have neighbor! Neighbor had a daughter of their own who was deaf-mute. Daughter reminded Gonta a lot of Chihiro-kun because she'd always gesture to things like him. Plus...Gonta thought he was a girl when we first met," He admitted in embarrassment, making Makoto laugh.

"That's really sweet! I'm sure he's happy you figured it out so quickly," He patted Gonta. "I don't know how you'd mistake him for a girl so easily though,"

"When Gonta met him, he wore pink and had flower in hair! Gonta thought that was very girly!" He defended, making Makoto laugh more.

* * *

The rain lessened and stopped after three days, and after five days of rowing, the floodwaters had begun to go down some as well, the temperatures beginning to turn more mild and steady.

The wind was still harsh and brought huge swaths of foam out of the ocean, sometimes rocking their tiny boat. Makoto worried that one day the ocean would completely grab them and they'd be pulled in, forever lost at sea.

They were at Yamaguchi by the 22nd, the last major town before they'd hit Hiroshima. Makoto was rowing the boat that time, going fast because he had a lot of leftover energy that day. The boat jerked slightly as it hit something hard, then rocked.

"What's it stuck on?" Makoto wondered, trying to jiggle the end into place.

"Wait, Makoto-san!" Gonta cried out, and Makoto grabbed the side of the boat too hard. It rocked violently, then completely tipped over, throwing them into the chilly water. Makoto gasped as the water suddenly shot up his nose and mouth, soaking through his clothes and even further down into his bones. He felt his lungs burn as he forced himself up and broke the surface of the water, gasping and sputtering. He had landed a few feet away from the water, the white boat still upside-down. Blavatsky barked eagerly and swam over to him, soaked.

"Where's Gonta-san?" Makoto asked worriedly, swimming around. "Where'd he go?" He continued to swim, his foot getting caught on something. With a yank, Makoto grabbed Gonta's arm and helped pull him up.

Gonta sputtered and coughed and gagged, struggling to stay afloat.

"Gonta's throat burns, it does! He's glad he's normally a strong swimmer!" He gasped.

Makoto nodded and started making his way back to the flipped-over boat. "We'll be alright," He reassured him, flipping the boat back over. They laid down in it as they tried to get their wind back. Makoto wrapped an arm around Gonta's shoulder to calm him.

* * *

The boat was able to be salvaged, but they had lost all of their supplies when it tipped over, so they had to stop in a smaller town and try to resupply themselves. Makoto briefly thought about just waiting out the remainder of the winter in the hostel they found again, but decided against it. Sayaka's baby was due in early January and he wanted to see with his own eyes that it was alright.

They didn't find any more concentrates, just canned food, and more camping supplies. They got new clothes too, as their older ones were soaked-through from the storms and falling into the floodwaters.

As they turned in for the night, Gonta came up to Makoto lighting the fire with a small box. "What's this?"

Makoto took the box and opened it, wincing at the strong, sour-sweet smell. He closed it again. "I think it's marijuana. I guess whoever owned this place used to smoke it secretly. Best we leave it alone though,"

Gonta nodded and did so, setting the box back in a bedroom. Makoto finished making the fire and marveled at how tomorrow was Christmas Eve. He'd have to do something special for Christmas.

They turned in that night, sleeping as soundly as they could. Makoto had another nightmare that night of both Sayaka and her child dying in childbirth and Seiko's remorseful voice sobbing as she explained pregnancy was death, no more babies could be born because of the crazies. Humanity was forever ruined.

The laughter from the girl with the bear in her hair echoed from somewhere in the mountains, lowly and terribly pretty.

* * *

They traveled all day on Christmas Eve, taking a break on a shallow stretch of land that had dried from the flood. Makoto randomly left later that night, promising he'd return in a few hours. Gonta thought nothing of it, especially when Makoto returned when he said he would, true to his word. They slept easily that night, the temperature remaining steady.

* * *

The next morning, Gonta woke up early at around seven in the morning and found Makoto trying to cook some ramen over the fire, stirring it and staring at the long noodles getting stuck to his spoon. Gonta didn't think that part was weird; what _was_ weird was Makoto being awake before Gonta. Gonta always woke up early, woke up with the sun, he did. But he slept in some that day. Blavatsky was watching Makoto cook with fascination.

"Morning," Gonta greeted, shrugging into his green jacket. He really had to pee and the morning was surprisingly chilly.

"Morning yourself. And Merry Christmas," Makoto greeted, smiling widely.

"Christmas? It's Christmas?!" Gonta asked in amazement, forgetting all about how much he had to pee. Makoto nodded.

"It's the best I could do," He pointed over to a large maple tree decorated in white streamers and icicles he found in the backroom of a department store, and underneath the tree were three wrapped presents in soft blue paper. "Those are from Santa Claus,"

Gonta laughed a bit. "Gonta knows there's no Santa Claus, you got those yourself, Makoto-san! But..." He frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You went through trouble to get Gonta presents...and he got you nothing! Because he forgot all about Christmas! He's stupid and got you nothing,"

"That's not true!" Makoto gasped. "You already gave me my present!"

"No, Gonta did not, because he's stupid and forgot!" He hit his head and seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Makoto hurried over to him. "No, you gave me the best present of all, my life,"

Gonta stared at him, not understanding.

"if it weren't for you, I would've died in that ditch all alone. If you hadn't come along when you did, I would've died from that nasty food poisoning or whatever it was back at that temple. I still don't know how you managed to remember the exact drinks and amounts to give me...if it truly was Fujisaki-san or the spirits or something else...all I know is that thanks to you, I'm able to see this Christmas," Makoto smiled.

"Awww, that was nothing," Gonta blushed.

"But go on! See what he brought you! I heard his sled come here last night. I guess the Despair Disease didn't hit the North Pole,"

"You heard him?" Gonta asked shyly, and Makoto shrugged.

"I heard something, anyway. But start opening your presents!" He went back to cooking the ramen, still watching Gonta open up his presents.

Gonta nodded and started to open up his presents, opening up the first one. Inside was a field guide that was part-notebook, designed to keep track of how many insects and birds one saw on their travels. He gasped.

"Gonta loves it already!"

Makoto smiled.

The next present was a set of silver cuff links with a matching striped silver tie. Gonta quickly pulled them on underneath his jacket, zipping his jacket back on.

"For the best gentleman I know," Makoto said.

The last present was a simple silver chain with a shiny charm at the end. Gonta stared at it, curious. It looked like a mountain.

"That's the kanji for the number 'eight'. It's seen as being very lucky and a sign of prosperity, you know. I guess because it looks like a mountain. I think we're really going to make it back to Hope's Peak. And I want you to wear that and always think of me whenever you need something; Naegi Makoto," He explained.

"Prosperity and good luck," Gonta whispered in amazement, slipping it on. To him, it almost reminded him of the gold necklace he got for Chihiro over the summer; a thousand years ago.

"And I didn't forget about you," Makoto addressed Blavatsky, heading back into his tent and pulling out a box of gourmet dog treats. He opened the box up and shook some out into the grass, and Blavatsky gobbled them up eagerly and wagged his tail for more. Makoto laughed and closed the box again. "You can have more later. Good things come to those who wait, as...Yasuhiro-san...would say..." He suddenly sniffled, tears coming to his eyes as he realized how much he truly missed Yasuhiro, and Leon and Kaito as well. Not just them, but everyone they had lost in the past few months. He bit his lip. Chiaki was right when she said he'd experience relentless tragedy before it was over. He loved and hated her both.

"Merry Christmas!" Gonta tightly hugged Makoto, and Makoto tightly hugged him back.

"Merry Christmas to you too," He smiled.

"Can I sing something before we go?" Gonta asked, unsure, and Makoto nodded.

"Sure," He finished cooking their food, expecting Gonta to sing something like Jingle Bells. Instead, he started to sing The First Noel in a strangely pleasant voice. Makoto joined in a while later, his voice meshing quite nicely with Gonta's and sounding perfectly suited for the tone of the song.

"That's all Gonta remembers," He admitted after the first verse, blushing. Makoto just shrugged.

"That's alright," He swallowed down his tears, feeling on the verge of crying again and not wanting to upset Gonta.

They packed up their camp after they ate.

"That was the best Christmas Gonta's ever had, it was," He admitted.

"I'm glad to hear that...Gonta-kun," Makoto smiled at him, hoping he would approve of the causality.

They then set off together under the cool Christmas Day sun.

* * *

They made camp later that night, the temperature suddenly dropping several degrees. Makoto shivered and hugged himself, trying to huddle up under his blankets. Gonta stared at him, a sleepy and half-alert look in his eyes.

"She's not dead yet. She'll be back," He said suddenly, making Makoto jump and glance at him. "She's still here,"

"When will she come back, Gonta-kun?" He asked urgently.

Gonta didn't answer.

"Gonta-kun..."

"Gonta isn't here. He went to go see the elephant,"

"Alright. Can you see Hope's Peak?" Makoto asked instead, changing the subject.

Gonta brightened. "Gonta can! He sees them all, waiting for spring. Waiting for a sign,"

"Can you see Sayaka-chan?"

"Yes! She's very fat now, Gonta thinks she's about to have a baby. She lives with Kuwata Kaede and Harukawa Maki. They're both going to have babies. But Naegi-san will have hers first. But...the baby,"

"What about the baby?" Makoto asked worriedly, but Gonta woke up and looked him.

"Makoto-san? Gonta had a strange dream. He was chasing an elephant. Isn't that funny?" He grinned, and Makoto just sighed.

"Yes, that's really funny," All he could do was hope both Sayaka and the child would be alright. He had hoped to get back and see her heavily-pregnant, but it looked like he wouldn't be able to. And the only Mrs. Naegi he knew used to be his mother.

* * *

Three days before the new year started, the weather suddenly chilled and took a turn for a worse as a heavy rain shower flooded the roads even more than they were before; the water was to their waists at certain points. Makoto bit his lip at how many times the boat rocked and jolted, stuck in pieces of debris. Hope's Peak was maddeningly close by that point, they could just feel it.

On January 4th; 1995, Sayaka Naegi went into labor, though neither of them knew that at the time.

On the sixth, Makoto wiped the sweat off his brow, worn-out from the effort of rowing. Gonta perked up and glanced behind him again, pointing to something.

"Be careful, you're going to tip the boat over," Makoto gently scolded.

"What's that? Seems familiar," He pointed, and Makoto shielded his eyes to see, gasping.

"That's an overpass! That's the overpass that leads you right into the heart of Hiroshima! We're almost there! We're almost home!" Makoto started to cheer, forgetting about the dull ache in his leg for once. Gonta cheered with him, and soon even Blavatsky got in on it, barking happily and wagging his tail.

* * *

The next day, Makoto tried to unstick the boat from another groove, groaning when he yanked too hard and accidentally breaking the oar in half. He stared at it in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"Just my luck," He grumbled, tossing the oars away. "Now we'll have to walk,"

"In this water?!" Gonta asked in disbelief as Makoto started gathering up their supplies, placing their food in the sleeping bags and wearing them on his back.

"It's gone down some, and we're only a day or two away from Hope's Peak. We're both good swimmers. We'll make it..."

Gonta just nodded, grabbing his own sleeping bag and wearing it on his back, following after Makoto. Their progress was frustratingly slow, only able to slowly wade through waist-deep, muddy waters. Their feet kept getting caught on pieces of debris left behind in the floods, threatening to pull them under.

They kept at it, sleeping that night on top of a dry bridge. Makoto winced in pain as his leg throbbed.

"How many people are in Hope's Peak now?" Gonta suddenly asked, startling Makoto. How many were expected to arrive by winter? Was it eight thousand? Makoto found he suddenly couldn't answer. He just offered Gonta a shrug.

"A lot. That's all that matters,"

After Gonta had fallen asleep, Makoto found himself thinking of when he had first met Lady Nanami in the flesh after his group had arrived. They were a few days after the first one, and a day before Leon's group, he later learned. The girls were excited about the meeting and dressed up as nicely as they could manage.

Makoto held Sayaka's hand and they walked up to her porch together, Sayaka bowing politely in her cream printed housedress with frilly sleeves. She even wore her pearl studs.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you...I dreamed of you, you know," Sayaka had said, trying hard not to cry. "You look a lot prettier than I expected," She blushed.

Chiaki just smiled. "I always try my hardest to look beautiful when guests come by. It's only polite...right?" She then turned her attention to Makoto. "Thank you for leading them all here to me,"

He had blushed, suddenly thankful she wasn't able to see that. "It wasn't any trouble at all, Lady Nanami! I wanted to see you just as much as they did,"

"Nice to see our Naegi-chi is just as much of a ladies' man as ever!" Yasuhiro had laughed. "Our group is almost entirely girls!"

Kyoko stepped up next, her violet hair pulled up into a high ponytail, wearing a tight kelly-green blouse underneath a green and gold patterned baby-doll dress. "Nice to see you," She had bowed.

Other people had come out of the house by that point, staring at Makoto's group curiously. A man with purple hair had waved at them eagerly.

"Nice to meet you, new people! You're the first big group we've gotten since...ourselves!" He had laughed. "Momota Kaito-san," He had taken Sayaka's hand gently and started introducing her to the other members of his group.

"I don't think I ever dreamed of you, but...hi anyway!" Aoi had bowed shyly. "Well, maybe once or twice, but...briefly,"

"That's alright. You're still welcome here," Chiaki reassured her with a smile. Aoi laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. She wore her hair down and pinned back with a hair clip; a heavy denim skirt and a matching blue plaid shirt on.

"You welcome everybody, huh? You're really nice!" Aiko had beamed, wearing a red sweater and pink plaid miniskirt. Her hair was waved; thanks to her fingers and the miracle of cold lake water.

"Why don't we go inside and get out of this heat? We have lemonade inside!" Kaito had offered, and Yasuhiro and Kyoko both had accepted his offer.

"You gotta run faster, come on, Big Brother!" A little girl with pink hair had laughed, zooming past them. Makoto had smiled to himself as he watched a man with an eyepatch eagerly run past, wearing a patterned green blouse and tan slacks with a black belt. He had finally caught her and pulled her into a tight hug as she laughed.

Makoto had glanced back at Aoi to see her blushing heavily.

"He's really kind, isn't he?" She had marveled.

"Where's Hifumi-san?" Sayaka had suddenly asked, reappearing beside Makoto. He had glanced around in concern, indeed not seeing him anywhere.

"Huh, he was here just a second ago...maybe he's still shy around strangers. He'll likely come by and say hello once there's fewer people around," He had suggested to her, trying to reassure her. Sayaka had just sighed.

"Alright, if you say so,"

They had all gone inside for lemonade.

Makoto woke up in the real world with a gasp.

* * *

They waded through the water for the better part of the next day, noticing it slowly becoming shallower and clearer. They stopped by a sign as Makoto tried to nurse the pain in his leg. Gonta stared at it. "City limits..." He read out slowly, gasping. "The city limits! Of Hiroshima! Hope's Peak! We made it, oh yes we did!" He cheered, bouncing up and down. Makoto cheered with him and spread out the rest of the dog treats for Blavatsky.

"That makes sense as to why the water is so shallow here. They must've been trying to clean up and drain it around here," Makoto speculated.

They continued, arriving close to their destination at around eight at night. Makoto was being led by Gonta, grimacing as he accidentally fell on his bad leg. He shivered from the water soaking through his clothes.

"Who's there!" A voice called out, and Makoto froze. It must've been some kind of guard they had planted; how ironic would it be if he arrived all of that way just to get killed by a guard? "Who's there?!"

"Naegi Makoto!" Makoto called back weakly. "I have Gokuhara Gonta-kun with me!"

The voice paused before calling out again: "What were the three pictures Minister Naegi had on the wall in his apartment?"

Makoto shivered as he tried to work through it. They were speaking of his old apartment, because evidently Sayaka had moved in with Kaede and Maki. What did he have? Three pictures. A painting done by Sayaka of some flowers, a picture of all the Ministers together, and an old picture of his family from '91 that he had kept with him all the way from Yokohama. He then yelled back his answer.

"And what did he write on the picture of the Ministers?"

"Hope '94!"

"Minister Naegi!" The two ran over to him; the blacksmith and confectioner he barely recognized.

"We were waiting for you to return for a long time now," Ruruka explained, wearing a thick pink coat with a muff and matching hood. "Some of us lost hope that you'd ever come back," She looked around behind him. "But where are the others? Like Minister Kuwata?"

"I'm freezing," Makoto said instead. "My clothes are soaked and my broken leg is acting up. Not to mention I want to see Sayaka-chan,"

"Ah, the woman in the hospital. She's still in there because she had a cesarean section," Izayoi came up behind Ruruka, a gun on his back. "Some people in the community pitched in to bring some flowers to her. They wanted to cheer her up because-"

"She died? The baby died?" Makoto finished for them.

"Minister Naegi is fine." Makoto blinked; _that_ was confusing. "Her baby though..." Ruruka looked down, remorse on her face. "She gave birth on the seventh of January. A healthy baby girl. But the next day, all the doctors reported she was sick with Despair Disease. Oh, I think this might be the end of humanity!" She cried out, a hand on her belly. Makoto registered the large bump there.

"Is there any hope of recovery?" Makoto asked, already pushing his way through the couple.

"The doctors aren't sure-" Izayoi started to answer before Ruruka cut him off.

"Where are you going?" She demanded hotly.

"To the hospital. I need to see my wife," Makoto shot back, walking off.


	33. Makoto 13: Sayaka's Baby

**Author's Note: Though this may be the end of this particular fic, there's still the related short story Night Surf which I plan to retell using SDR2 characters that I've alluded to a few times in this fic, as well as doing some AU stuff like if Chihiro had joined Junko's side and not Chiaki's, maybe. Also a new miniseries is coming out and Stephen King is going to write a new ending for that featuring Stu and Fran several years later, so if I like that enough I'll make it a new chapter in this fanfic. **

**###**

**Hey now, hey now,**

**Don't dream it's over.**

**Hey now, hey now,**

**When the world comes in!**

**They come, they come,**

**To build a wall inbetween us.**

**We know, that they won't win!**

**Part 7; Hope; January 9th-July 7th, 1995**

**######**

**Makoto 13: Sayaka's Child**

**######**

**Hiroshima; January 9th, 1995**

* * *

Sayaka was dozing off in her bright hospital room, a romance novel folded up in her lap. She was thinking of juicy strawberry pie, cutting herself a slice of it, and pairing it with some cold plum juice. She had her waist-long hair up in a tight bun and papery green hospital pajamas on. If Makoto ever came back and saw her, she wondered if he'd recognize her at first glance.

As she dozed, a nurse had come in to check on her and she wildly asked if Chiaki was dead yet; so groggy she wasn't quite sure if she meant her daughter Chiaki or her namesake Chiaki.

"She's perfectly alright," The nurse had said, but Sayaka could tell by her eyes that she was lying. The baby she made with Shuichi Saihara was dying somewhere in the hospital, being written-off. She heard both Kaede and Maki were pregnant and knew their children would have far better luck. Both parents were immune to the Despair Disease, after all. Aoi was dead, but if she wasn't it'd be the same situation. It was brutal but perfectly understandable for the community to write off her daughter's survival and only care about women who became pregnant after July 1st.

Sayaka sighed a bit and started to close her eyes. She thought of when she first held her child; Chiaki Maizono-Naegi. She thought of Makoto's eyes. She thought of Makoto being in her hospital room with her.

"Makoto-kun..." She mumbled a bit, looking over at the doorway.

"Sayaka-chan," A voice reached her in her swimming conscious, and she opened her eyes slightly. "Sayaka-chan,"

In her dream, Makoto was wearing a forest-green jacket that was dripping slightly, his hair slightly longer and stubble on his face. Then she noticed Gonta standing behind him, and...Blavatsky at his heel?!

"Makoto-kun...?" She asked slowly. "I'm dreaming," She insisted.

"No, you're not. It's me. I'm finally home," He insisted, limping severely over to her.

"Is that truly you?" She gasped as he finally reached her bed, and they embraced tightly.

* * *

Seiko, Miaya, and Yasuke all came in an hour later, Makoto sitting in a chair by Sayaka's bedside. Miaya wrote in trembling hands:

_They're saying you saw the destruction of New Nagasaki. That there was a fire,_

Makoto nodded. "I saw it, and it was definitely a fire of some sort,"

"You...feeling?" Seiko asked Sayaka.

"I'm fine. Very happy to finally have my husband back. But what about my child?" She asked worriedly.

"That's what we came in here to tell you, and we're not going to mince words or anything," Yasuke took over, letting go of Miaya's wheelchair. "That way you can understand better,"

"My daughter is dead, isn't she?" Sayaka asked firmly. "You've come here to tell me that,"

"What? No. We came here to tell you we think the newborn is recovering,"

Everyone in the room was stone-silent.

"I saw...lots of cases...this summer. Even got sick...myself," Seiko begun. "When your baby first became sick...the symptoms were classic signs of the Despair Disease. The last part...the final part...internal bleeding...never happened though. So, we believe...since the child has partial immunity from you, she will fight it off and recover..."

"What of other women who were pregnant from fathers who weren't immune?" Makoto asked curiously.

"We think they'll have the same struggle Minister Naegi's baby is having right now," Yasuke explained. "But we'll soon enter a time when children are being born to parents who were both immune, and that time will come very soon,"

Sayaka slowly nodded in understanding. "I just want her to live because she's my daughter and I love her," She reached her hand out for Makoto and looked at him. "She's my last connection to the world before. She has her father's eyes, you know. And if anything from Shuichi-kun had to be passed on...I'm glad it was his eyes. She'll look so pretty with them when she grows up," She felt Makoto squeeze her hand. "That's what I think,"

Makoto suddenly thought about how much he missed his old friends and family. They all liked to tease him and call him 'extraordinarily ordinary' because he wasn't good at anything and just had his luck and optimism to fall back on. Only in that moment did he finally realize how right they were.

The trio nodded. "We have...lots to do. Eighteen women here...pregnant...nine before the pandemic. So we're going to be busy..." Seiko explained.

_We'll keep a very close eye on your akachan though, don't you worry at all, Minister Naegi!_ Miaya reassured her through her writing._ And Minister Naegi, please see me about your leg,_

"What's wrong with his leg?" Sayaka immediately asked.

_Broken, overtaxed. Nothing that can't be fixed though! Just come see me whenever you're ready,_

"Oh, he will,"

"Guess I gotta, my wife says so," Makoto laughed awkwardly.

Once they left, Sayaka made Makoto walk around on his leg, watching him stumble and grimace. Once he made it back to her bed, she started crying.

"What's all this?!" Makoto asked worriedly.

"So many people died...Hifumi-san, Asahina-chan, Fujisaki-san...they didn't deserve that. They deserved to be here with us, celebrating your return," She sobbed. "And what about Yasuhiro-san? Leon-san and Kaito-san? Kaede-chan and Maki-chan are going to be here in an hour. What are we supposed to tell them? They're both almost five months pregnant themselves,"

"I think Leon-san and Momota-san died over there. I think they might've been a sacrifice, or something. Who'd ask for a sacrifice like that, I don't know," Makoto finally said, more to himself.

"You better not tell the girls that, they'll become upset,"

Makoto just sighed.

* * *

Around midnight, Makoto and a young nurse helped Sayaka into a wheelchair and pushed her down the clinic's wards, stopping at a blue-and-pink ward with a glass window. Makoto looked in, interested. Only one pink crib was occupied, a mobile above it.

A card on the crib read: **Maizono-Naegi Chiaki; Female. Mother: Naegi Sayaka, née Maizono, rm. 23. Father: Saihara Shuichi, Deceased.**

"Maizono-Naegi?" Makoto couldn't help asking her.

"I thought it was fitting because it's like our two families becoming one," Sayaka explained shyly. "I can change it if you want-"

"No," He cut her off.

"I just feel sad when I see all of those empty cribs. I want her to grow up and have lots of other kids to play with," She bit her lip.

"She won't be alone for very long," Makoto tried to comfort her, hugging her tightly but clumsily. He glanced back at the newborn girl and saw she had fluffy blue hair on her head already and olive eyes. She was laying there calmly, her tiny hands in fists. Makoto then started to cry himself, making Sayaka stare at him in confusion and worry.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head and pulled her closer.

"She's just so beautiful. Just as beautiful as her mother," He smiled at her.

The two tightly embraced each other and gazed upon Chiaki as she finally fell asleep as if she was the very first child ever born upon the earth.

* * *

**Hiroshima; April 29th, 1995**

* * *

The winter finally ended, though Makoto spent most of it holed up in bed after Seiko rebroke his leg and set it in a plaster cast, and it had only come off a few weeks ago. He had gotten autographs from seemingly everyone in Hope's Peak on it in the meantime. By that time, the community had numbered eleven thousand, and Kiriko Nishizawa even headed her own office with a computer terminal at the city's bank. She _was_ head of the Census Bureau, after all.

That day, the couple sat out on a picnic blanket, having some lunch with Kaede and Maki. They were watching a huge group of children chase each other around the community; the first 'It' was none other than Gonta Gokuhara. It was Sayaka's idea.

"Haha, nobody can catch me! I'm the fastest!" Masaru cheered before Gonta easily scooped him up. "Awww, guess I gotta get someone else!"

"Catch me! I'm an easy target!" Monaca suggested from her wheelchair, then easily dodged him. She laughed. "I'm not even playing!"

"Sure you are!" The children were all decked out in the pastel sweaters and yellow hats that denoted them as members of the elementary school in the community.

"But have we found Nagisa-kun yet?" Monaca wondered.

"Hm..." Masaru slowly snuck around and pounced on Nagisa, who jumped. He was hiding behind Momota Rock and thought he found a perfect hiding place.

"I wasn't even playing," He insisted. "I'm too old for this,"

"Sure you are!" Masaru teased.

After everyone grew bored of playing, they'd head up to the amphitheater; renamed to Fujisaki-Asahina Amphitheater, for a large picnic lunch. Sayaka and Makoto had just finished setting it up and wanted to dig into their own share.

In the playpen Makoto had brought outside, Chiaki began to cry heavily. Sayaka started to head over there, but Kaede was there first, despite being heavily-pregnant.

"I think her diaper needs to be changed," Sayaka warned, and Kaede laughed.

"I'm not afraid of that. She's not hiding anything I haven't seen before!" Kaede gently scooped Chiaki up out of her playpen. "What's wrong? What's wrong, baby?" She set Chiaki down on a separate blanket they brought for a changing table and started to unbutton her pink dress. She glanced over at Maki. "Why don't you help me? It's good practice!"

Maki just stared at her in annoyance, finally coming over to help.

"You two could go for a walk," She addressed Sayaka and Makoto, and they agreed and walked off together. They walked up some of the higher hills, Sayaka sighing a bit.

"Are you suggesting we get divorced?!" Makoto suddenly gasped, making Sayaka turn back and laugh dryly.

"What?"

"I saw an intense expression on your features. I just assumed..."

"What? No! I'd never divorce you! I can't imagine my life without you," She sighed. "I just feel homesick. I know that sounds silly because both Nagoya and Hiroshima border the ocean, but...Nagoya beaches are different. They're far prettier especially during the summer nights. Don't you ever want to return back to Yokohama?" She looked at Makoto, who shook his head.

"No." He answered truthfully. "This is my home now. But I'll follow you where-ever you go," He took her hands. "We're married now, Sayaka-chan. It's my duty as a husband to make sure you're happy. And if you want to go back home to Nagoya, then we shall,"

"But what about the council? I heard you got offered your spot back, as well as the position of being Prime Minister," Sayaka asked.

"Ours was more of a temporary thing we founded in the middle of a crisis. Now there is no crisis," He softly kissed her. "When?"

"July? I think Chiaki-chan will be old enough by then. And I want to see Kaede-chan and Maki-chan give birth," Sayaka decided.

It was entirely possible the two women would be the first two to have children born of two immune parents.

"July 1st then," Makoto decided. "But what about if you get pregnant again?"

"There are books we could read about it. And I was pregnant once, you know? I'm sure I could handle it again," Sayaka teased.

"Yes, but..what about illness? That's still a very real possibility. Even for people as young as us," Makoto said, thinking of his bout with cholera, and how Tayu; the idol-wannabe with a ponytail, was just Sayaka's age yet she died that February from pneumonia.

"There's books for that too...still, I like to think we'll be alright," She replied firmly, feeling a bit sad again over Tayu's death. Chiaki had started crying from something and she stood up. "Let's go see what's wrong with the queen,"

Kaede carefully handed Chiaki back to Sayaka. "She was trying to crawl off and accidentally hit her nose," She explained.

"Awww, poor baby," Sayaka teased, rubbing Chiaki's back.

"Poor baby indeed," Makoto agreed, making a funny face at her. She smiled a bit.

"I heard you two are thinking of leaving the community," Maki said. Sayaka nodded.

"But that's not for a few more months. At the very least we want to see your own babies be born," Makoto reassured them.

"You know, I really have no idea if Kuwata-kun ever wanted kids, and if he did, how many he'd want. This one I have...that'll just have to be enough, won't it?" Kaede said, more to herself. The bell ran for lunch and she gingerly stood up, her hands on her expansive belly. "Hear that? Time to eat. Ow, don't kick me, I'm going!"

Sayaka laughed a bit and handed Chiaki to Makoto. "Let's take ours up there and eat it,"

Makoto nodded in agreement and followed after her. They walked to Fujisaki-Asahina Amphitheater together.

* * *

**Hiroshima; June 16th, 1995**

* * *

Makoto and Sayaka smiled at Kaede as she gently held her newborn twins in her arms, a tired but happy expression on her face.

"Twins, I just can't believe it," Makoto finally said.

"Seeing is believing," Sayaka teased him.

"I think he'd be very happy with this," Kaede commented, kissing her sleeping babies on their foreheads. One was a boy and the other was a girl, but both had brilliant red hair and soft violet eyes. "In fact...I'll name this one Kurt Cobain, and this one Courtney Love. He really loved American grunge rock..."

"I think they're just perfect," Makoto nodded in agreement.

* * *

Maki gave birth a day later to her own baby; a son who resembled her physically aside from his father's purple hair. She quickly named him Sora. Himiko instantly attached herself to the infant and started showing him magic tricks.

Blavatsky, who ended up living for sixteen more years, got with Helena and had a litter of six puppies. It seemed as though both human and canine populations would not only survive but recover.

It had only been a year since the Great Plague of '94.

* * *

**Hiroshima; July 7th, 1995**

Sayaka smiled to herself as she spun around in a light pink furisode patterned with cherry blossoms, a matching kanzashi in her hair and a glittering gold engagement and wedding ring on her fingers. She was finally an adult. The setting sun painted her in brilliant red and orange. She looked over at the sound of footsteps and smiled at her husband; now nineteen, standing in the doorway.

"She's getting all dirty!" Makoto gasped, pointing to Chiaki eagerly crawling around in the mud. He had grown his hair out slightly to wear it in a small ponytail.

Sayaka laughed. "Lady Nanami has a well here, it'll be fine. Besides, it's just some mud, it won't kill her," She placed a hand on her flat stomach. "You worried about the baby?"

"Of course not," He smiled at her. "The little queen won't be very happy about having to share our attention though,"

"Who cares? She should be happy she's not part of a set," Sayaka teased, referring to Kaede's twins. She then sat down on the porch, sighing a bit. Parked in the distance was a blue Honda; Makoto took driving lessons from some older community members before he left and felt more assured about it. And indeed, Makoto wasn't the only one with a sense of adventure. Seiko had wanted to visit Hawaii. Gonta and Himiko set off for Australia. Yasuke wanted to see if anything could be salvaged from Nagasaki. Sakura and Kenshiro wanted to check out America and see if they had gotten further in reconstruction efforts in comparison.

"She lived here for a long time, didn't she?" Sayaka finally asked after a time.

"Yeah, she did. Which reminds me," Makoto walked back inside and pulled a faded photo out of his hoodie pocket, setting it out on the makeshift shrine. He lit some incense as Sayaka followed after him curiously, holding a squirmy Chiaki in her arms.

"Hey, that's-"

The picture was the one the Ministers took right before their first successful meeting; it still had 'Hope '94' written on it.

"I wanted to set up some shrine for them somewhere in Hope's Peak, but it somehow didn't feel right. That's why I suggested coming here for a minute. She connected us all together, you know? We all dreamed of her. We all loved her dearly. And Fujisaki-san and Momota-san were the first of us to actually come here to see her in person," Makoto explained. "I thought this would be the perfect resting place for them,"

Sayaka lowered her head. "I think their souls are finally resting in peace. They did everything they needed to do,"

"They did," Makoto agreed, standing up.

Suddenly, he blinked and briefly caught sight of Chiaki, dressed in a virginal white kimono; spotless and folded differently. She was carefully playing her shamisen, singing a graduation song.

The lyrics never sounded as ironic to Makoto as they did then.

He saw all of them there then; Leon and Kaito were quietly sitting in front of Chiaki, listening to her play. Yasuhiro and Kyoko having another debate about whether aliens interacted with cavemen or not. Kizakura watched them carefully, a hand on his hat.

"Come back here!" Aoi gasped and giggled, rushing past him to catch up to a little girl who was laughing as she darted behind a tree. Chihiro covered his mouth with his hand, laughing too.

Mukuro and Hifumi were there too, Hifumi poring over a fandom magazine and pointing out in amazement all of the new series coming out. Mukuro nodded in understanding, taking notes of new cosplay outfits.

Chiaki looked up at Makoto, giving him a warm smile. Her eyes were the brightest shade of pink he had ever seen, and then he realized that she was only just then seeing what he truly looked like, what any of them truly looked like.

"Thank you. You gave everyone hope. Because of you, we can all exist like this...and your living friends can continue living on peacefully," She stopped playing the shamisen and it disappeared as she stood up, folding her hands in front of her.

"Yeah, you're a true friend, ya know?" Chihiro teased, making Chiaki gasp as he took one of her hands.

"Time to go, Miss Chiaki," Kaito gently nudged her, holding her other hand.

She nodded and allowed herself to be led away by the two, briefly glancing back once more at Makoto. The others slowly started to vanish as well, though Makoto swore he could still hear their voices and smell their scents even long after that fact.

Even in death, they were still living.

He blinked again and they were gone.

Were they ever really there in the first place?

"Time for her to take a nap. Come help me?" Sayaka asked, breaking him out of his illusion and motioning to Chiaki, who yawned cutely. Makoto nodded, his hand on his head, and walked with her into the living room, setting Chiaki down on a cot in a tiny purple nightgown. She was asleep within seconds. Sayaka stared at her carefully.

Makoto found himself wondering if humanity would ever truly learn, if Chiaki would learn from the emptied world to never repeat the mistakes of her forbearers. He could only hope.

"Makoto-kun?" Sayaka asked slowly, and Makoto pulled her close.

"Yes?"

"...Do...do you think humanity will ever learn from their mistakes? Do you think this time, we can be better?" She stared at him.

"Well, what do_ you_ think?" He asked her instead.

She then stared ahead at nothing. "I don't know." She said at last. "I don't know."

* * *

**Undisclosed Location; Unknown Date, 1995**

She woke up suddenly at dawn, shivering despite the heat. Above her was a clear blue sky, below her was simple pieces of white sand. She ran a hand through her hair and found it was a perky red, the colour of blood.

She blinked. Blood? What was that? She rolled over onto her back and unknowingly placed her hand in the water. Several fish sprung up, dead. A bird overhead balked at her and turned the other way, slamming itself into a tree. She breathed heavily.

Things were starting to slowly come back to her. A character that sounded like it could've been a name to her. Perhaps it was her name, perhaps it wasn't, but it was still a name nonetheless.

She managed to sit up and found she was clad in nothing but a white bikini. She coughed, her throat feeling heavy.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alive!" A woman's voice reached her ears. "You washed up on that shore a while ago. I did my best to revive you..." The woman had bright hair tied into a ponytail.

The red-eyed girl just stared back at her, confused. So this woman saved her life...she suddenly wondered how the woman would feel if if she just jumped right back into the ocean and tried to drown herself again. Would she feel...

Despair...?

"My name is Yukizome Chisa, what's yours?" She continued, folding her hands in front of her. "I'd like to be your friend..if you'd let me. You seem very nice,"

The girl smiled prettily, very slowly standing up on shaky legs. She managed a tiny bow. "Otonashi Ryoko...that is my name,"

"Ryoko-chan. That's a pretty name!" Chisa chirped and carefully took Ryoko's hand. "Let's get some food in you and some better clothes,"

Ryoko nodded and followed after the woman. "Hey...I think I'd like to be your friend too,"

"Really? You would? Great! Let's be best friends then!" Chisa beamed.

Ryoko smiled at her then, a smile that sent shivers down her spine. It was a pretty smile full of malice and coldness. A smile full of despair.

For as long as hope exists, despair will always exist as well.


End file.
